Flowers and Fur
by Sanluris
Summary: Senel is on his way home after visiting Stella's grave when he realizes he's being followed. He doesn't know who it is, but it's no one he's met before, and it's no one he expected.
1. Follower's Arrival

Foreword: I had this idea and wasn't sure if I wanted to write it, but decided to at least give it a try and make it a short story (I'll see how short it actually is once I get started). Whether or not I actually put it on Fanfiction, I think it's going to turn out alright. I hope you enjoy reading it, and feel free to leave constructive criticism comments. I will just put the first chapter up for now. This story is mostly an experiment right now, and to satisfy my muse, but if people like it I'll keep uploading chapters and continue writing (since this story has been on hiatus for a while).

I will probably change the point of view a million times throughout the story...but maybe I'll ask someone in my family to catch any mistakes. I doubt they'll understand what the heck's going on though, since none of them play any of the "Tales of" series. Hahaha.

Song I'm listening to: "Let's Talk" by the Suzukake Children's Choir from the Tales of Legendia soundtrack. It could be a theme song for Stella, even though it's really Grune's. Well, anyway, enjoy the chapter.

I guess this fic is warm fuzzy fluffy stuff/some pairings, but mostly friendship. Eh, I'll just let you guys decide :)

Story started: June 12 2008

Description : Senel is on his way home after visiting Stella's grave when he realizes he's being followed. He doesn't know who it is, but it's no one he's met before, and it's no one he expected. Contains an unusual OC.

**Chapter One - Follower's Arrival**

A silvery-white-haired boy named Senel Coolidge dragged his feet as he walked down the street past his house, and the sounds of his shoes scraping against the hard ground echoed slightly around the quiet streets. A small cloth bag was held firmly but carefully in his arms so he wouldn't damage its contents. Something important for one of his close friends was inside of it.

Everyone sensible in town was asleep now, but there had been a sudden monster problem outside of Werites Beacon, so Will and Senel had gone and taken care of the fifty-so odd monsters, plus a pesky and incredibly deadly dragon that had refused to die. They'd cleaned up the monsters at a reasonable time but Norma had wanted him to go on a treasure hunt and after that Moses had wanted to do some "family bonding time" which looked like nothing more than a sick version of darts because the darts were spears and the object of aim was a person. Senel had also guessed (or fervently hoped) that some dodging was involved, but he had been too tired and unfocused to even open his mouth to ask; he'd managed to avoid Moses by saying Jay wanted to hang out with him (he knew there would be definite repercussions later).

Norma's suggestion he'd agreed to, probably because he feared she'd get into some accident or disturb some monster, like she had when he'd first met her. It was well past midnight now and Senel wanted nothing more to just collapse into his bed, but he wanted to go see Stella before he did that. A feeling of bittersweet happiness as he thought of Stella mixed with the fierce pain of loss—she had died a year and a half ago, sacrificing herself to save a town from being destroyed by the Nerifes Cannon, and apart from that, she had saved Senel himself countless times when she had been in tune with the Legacy. The time he and Shirley had been adrift at sea, then suddenly washed up ashore on the Legacy, when Senel had been dropped off the cliff, and the time when Stella had helped the whole group escape from Vaclav after they'd lost to him in a difficult fight. He had been unconscious at the time but his friends had filled him in later; they'd thought it was Shirley's Teriques that had saved them, but it had been Stella all along. All those times she'd been watching over him and even though Senel thought she'd died when he was a lot younger, protecting him and Shirley, he had failed to find her until it was too late.

He stopped and stared down at his feet; Stella's grave lay in front of him now, and he knelt carefully in front of it and pulled the bag open, leaving one strap around his shoulder as he gazed at the bag's contents. Senel gently pulled the medium sized flower bouquet out of the bag, and paused as the flower's colors again reminded him faintly of Stella's Teriques: golden with darker golden areas at the tips of the petals, and the middle of the petals were colored light gold. The center of the flower was a bright red. He gave a small sigh and let the bag slip from his hands as he slowly placed the flowers in front of Stella's grave. Then he took a deep breath and spoke.

"Thank you, Stella."

For some time after Stella's death he would visit her grave and be overcome with guilt and grief, and would say, "I'm sorry" whenever he knelt before the headstone. He had been uselessly helpless to save her and could only watch as she left him forever. Now, he felt like he wanted to stop feeling sorry for himself and start moving on. Stella would want him to move on, too. His friends knew he _should _move on.

Senel still missed Stella—he'd never stop wishing she was here with him—but he was happy for all the times she'd laughed with him, accepted him even when he had been wrong, and the times she'd saved him and always watched over him.

"I miss you, Stella, and so does everyone else, but we're all...." Senel hesitated, "doing alright, I guess." He squinted as the moon that hung in the clear starry sky suddenly seemed to glow a little brighter. A tiny smile turned up the corners of his mouth, but then it had gone, and the night was again as dark as it had been before but the streetlights would help him find his way back to his home.

"Goodnight," he said, and turned, slowly walking down the stone steps that led away from the cemetery. When he'd made it about halfway to his house he stopped and tensed; a strange shuffling noise had caught his attention. Even stranger was that the sound reminded him of the snuffling or whining noises Giet made. The Galf hadn't figured out how to use the elevator and come back into Werites Beacon, had he?

He realized suddenly that the shuffling noises had stopped, but he didn't relax just yet. If it was someone looking to attack him, or if it was a monster that had ventured into town, it definitely was still nearby.

"I know someone's there," Senel called firmly, raising his fists in preparation to fight, "so come out!" No other sound except his light breathing reached his ears and no one made an appearance—not that he expected anyone to. Senel turned quickly but saw no one behind him. A few minutes passed before with him straining his ears and eyes as he checked around the area, but he'd come up with nothing, and was just becoming more exhausted with each passing second. He'd stayed up way too late and finally decided to just walk home while keeping his senses tuned. He was a little jumpy as he walked back, and it didn't take much to set him off, whether it was a slight wind rustling a tree's branches or a creaky window that had been left open and was being moved by the wind. Once he'd made it to his front door he quickly stuck the key in, turned it, and entered. He inhaled deeply, welcoming the smell of the house that still reminded him of the first day he'd moved in. He put the bag on a nearby table and made his way upstairs. He kicked off his shoes and stumbled over to his bed, placed his house key on the bedside table, then just fell right onto it face first, not even bothering to get under the covers. He dimly thought of the picnic the whole group was going to have around eleven O'clock tomorrow at the spring, in memory of Stella and Grune. The Iron Eren tried his best to make an honest mental note to get up early but in record time he was sleeping heavily as only Senel Coolidge could.

There was, however, one thing he'd forgotten to do as he'd walked into his home half-asleep: shut and lock the door. One creature took advantage of this and pushed the slightly ajar front door open wider and entered, sniffing the room warily as it gazed up to where Senel slept. Then it began to move slowly up the stairs, then trained its eyes on the sleeping teenager once it reached the second floor. The creature's tail began to wag slowly as it padded cautiously closer to Senel's bed.

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Forgetting to lock your door's a bad thing....and being a heavy sleeper's even worse. What's going to become of Senel? Review if you want more chapters of this! Again this is a test to see if people like my Legendia story. I had written a lot of chapters for this story, and one day I got tired of it just sitting around with no one to read it (since hardly anyone else in my family plays the kind of video games I do and thus wouldn't be interested) so I finally uploaded it. Let me know if I have a good story here, and I'll upload more chapters.


	2. Thief's Intrusion

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Legendia or any of the characters or monsters or animals, including Galves. I did make up the mystery character in the last chapter but not her species...can that make me her owner? O.o Well, at any rate, enjoy the chapter! Review for it please if you would and let me know if you liked it. :) I accept constructive criticism.**

Chapter Two

"Ooh, those sandwiches sure look good! Hmm, there are a ton of them...I don't think anyone will miss it if I just take one..." Norma Beatty said mischievously with a hungry look in her eye as she reached for the sandwich tray that was sitting on a table outside of Will's house. Several other trays of food, including bread, cookies, vegetables, and flans were waiting to be put in baskets and taken to Lumen Spring—once everyone arrived, that is. Senel, Moses, and Jay hadn't shown up, and Norma was getting impatient and hungry. Now that Chloe had left they had to wait for her as well, and Norma didn't know how long it would take to wake up Senel, so she'd decided to help herself to the sandwiches. As her hand was about to get a sandwich the Crystal Eren received a hard smack over her head and yelped.

"Ow!" She glared up at the person who had smacked her and waved her arms angrily in small circles while stamping her feet: the classic Angry Norma Pose. "Teach, come on! I know you said 'wait until everyone's here,'" she quoted what Will had said earlier, making her voice deeper in addition to adopting a lecturing tone, "but Senel's probably going to sleep in forever! So come on, please?" The man sighed and adjusted his glasses as he shook his head.

"Chloe's not here, either, in case you hadn't noticed." Norma eyed the sandwich tray longingly as her stomach gave a particularly loud grumble.

"I noticed, Teach...and she left just a minute ago to get Senel. She seemed pretty mad, too. I don't blame her for being mad at him, but even so, I feel bad for Senel. C had a really crazy look in her eye....muttering something about 'disgraceful' and 'inconsiderate fool'...well, you get the picture." Will smiled slightly and nodded, then widened his eyes as he noticed smoke coming from a window he knew was in the kitchen.

"Whoa, what's going on, Teach?" Will paused in mid-dash for his front door to answer back.

"Harriet's cooking a cake...and it seems she's burned it. I'll be back, and don't think of touching those sandwiches!" With that the man darted inside his house, leaving Norma looking mutinous as she crossed her arms and pouted. Then she glanced around and waited until she heard Harriet screaming in alarm and Will yelling "Don't panic, just let me take it out" before she dared to snatch a sandwich off of the tray. Giggling triumphantly, Norma tore off for Senel's house, stuffing the grilled cheese sandwich into her mouth as she went.

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Chloe stomped along the streets of Werites Beacon, her face the very definition of pure rage. She ground her teeth as she set her course for Senel's house and while she stormed through the streets, not noticing the people who gave her one look and pelted away from her. She was thinking of what to scream at him once she got up to his room.

_How could you sleep in on a day like this?! Did you completely forget what we were all doing today? You are the most inconsiderate being on the Legacy!_

She was reaching in her pocket for something when she reached Senel's front door and was perplexed to find it wide open. Maybe he was actually up and just leaving the door open for fresh air? It was usually closed when she came to visit, though, so this was a little strange but she shrugged and went inside. Letting go of the object in her pocket and moving her hand to grip her sword, she peered around the house warily. Couldn't be too careful, after all.

Looking around the room she didn't see much wrong; Senel's house looked the same as always, and nothing seemed to have been destroyed, let alone even touched. A reminding her of the heavenly smell of a bakery, and she noticed a metal tray with a towel laid carefully over it. She lifted the towel slightly and saw that Senel must have made mini-cakes for the picnic. They were chocolate cake with white icing and she had to admit they looked pretty good. _So, he hadn't forgotten about the picnic today,_ she thought. Some of the nasty things she was thinking of saying to Senel fading away. A little smile appeared on her face but it faded as soon as it appeared. _He's still in trouble for sleeping in._

She heard the stairs creak and turned quickly towards them, expecting to see Senel. She hoped it was him, because if he'd woken up on his own for once she wouldn't have to scream at him and make everyone in Werites Beacon wonder if a murder had been committed.

But the figure on the stairs was not Senel; it was a cream-furred Galf sitting placidly on the stairs and holding something oval-shaped and white in its mouth. She raised an eyebrow as she studied the object and suddenly felt sick.

"Coolidge's shoes?" She whispered, then drew her sword as a terrible thought entered her mind. "YOU BEAST! HOW DARE YOU!" She yelled in anguish, lunging at the Galf. The animal merely stared curiously at her as she shouted, leapt over her when she charged, and touched down on the floor by the front door then turned almost casually to face the enraged knight. Chloe whirled and charged again, but stopped when she heard a voice from above.

"Chloe....? What's going on? Have you seen my shoes...?" Senel called down sleepily, despite the huge commotion. Since he'd just woken up the realization that the knight was in his house hadn't sunk in yet. Chloe nearly dropped her sword in shock and relief as she saw her friend alive and well.

"Coolidge! You're alright! I thought this Galf had—" Senel blinked and rubbed his eyes, then came down the stairs, still groggy.

"Hang on...how'd you get in here?" The Iron Eren asked, rubbing his eyes and slowly becoming more alert. "And what do you mean? A Galf?" Chloe rolled her eyes and pointed with her sword at the animal, which was now wagging its tail. "Oh...what the...!?" He burst out, finally noticing the creature. "How'd that get in here?!"

"Idiot," Chloe hissed, and Senel blinked once, and his mouth hung open as he stared at the Galf, then closed as he glared at Chloe.

"What did I do?!" He yelled, getting tired of everyone—well, mainly Chloe—calling him an idiot, a coward, a disgrace, or any of the other insulting names she came up with. Then he noticed his footwear clamped firmly in the mouth of the creamy white furred Galf. "Hey, my shoes!" He exclaimed, and the Galf let out a howl, excited that he had finally noticed. The shoes fell from the creature's mouth as it howled. Chloe jumped but Senel thought it didn't look like it was going to attack...for all he knew about Galves, that is. He'd heard Giet howling because he was either excited or happy a few times, and when he was angry, and this Galf's howl sounded happy...he hoped. Senel crept down the stairs slowly, knowing what had happened the last time he'd approached a Galf. The one in front of him now just stared at him and kept wagging its tail, even as he approached and came within petting distance of the animal. If Senel didn't know better, he would have said that the Galf had a crafty gleam in its pale green eyes, as if it wanted him to approach it. He reached down and slowly moved his hand towards his shoes.

He'd taken too long; the Galf barked and lowered its head, quickly snatching up Senel's footwear and hurtling out the front door.

"Hey! Get back here!" Senel growled, giving chase immediately. Chloe stood still for a few moments, wondering what she should do. Then she stepped out of Senel's house and pulled a key from her pocket. The knight turned stuck the key in the door, locked it and put it back in her pocket. Then she heard someone calling her name, and recognized Norma's cheery voice. Today it sounded strangely garbled though, and Chloe turned to see Norma jogging towards her, chewing something.

"Hey, C! What's up? Senny just went running by me! He didn't have any shoes on either." Chloe nodded and tried to suppress the laugh that was building up.

"Yeah....somehow a Galf snuck into his house and stole his shoes. It wasn't Giet," the knight added, seeing the question waiting on her friend's tongue. Norma's jaw dropped after Chloe finished filling her in.

"No way! That Galf's a thief! Let's get Teach on this!" Chloe held her head and tried again.

"No, Norma. We need to help him. Once he corners that Galf it could attack him. Remember what Giet did, even if it wasn't his fault?" Norma shuffled her feet anxiously, not liking to think about it, but couldn't help but remember what had happened when Giet had gone out of control- both Senel and Moses had been injured badly. Norma didn't want that to happen to any of her friends ever again, and she didn't want things to turn out worse this time.

"Spot? Well....alright, C. Let's go help him out."

The two ran off in the direction they'd seen Senel running and hoped they'd be able to find him quickly.

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**Author's Note: I'm trying to make it a little funny here, with Senel putting up with the possibility of a new roommate that's a little unruly....kind of like my dog Lulu. She is a free spirit. She chews my shoes and steals my socks but all is forgiven because she's cute :3 Anyway, review so Senel can get his shoes back. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I don't know if anyone cares but when I wrote the earlier chapters for this I used run-on sentences a lot. I cringe now that I think about it...I must be a grammar geek. To not have run-ons is something my English teachers stressed many times, but I managed to forget.**


	3. Four Legged Chase

**Disclaimer: I've forgotten to put this in the last chapters I think so I'll put it now. I do not own Tales of Legendia, any of the characters, their names, the places and place names, or the characters' clothes designs. Namco and Project Melfes (Image artist Masaki Ootani) do.**

**That said, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 3

"Alright," Senel growled, inching slowly towards the Galf, readying his muscles so he could spring at the creature if it decided to dart away again, "I cannot go kicking monsters around with my bare feet." The Galf whapped her tail on the ground once and gave a whine that sounded exasperated.

"Okay, I can, but I don't want to. Give me my shoes....back....NOW!" Senel yelled the last word and sprang forward towards the Galf, aiming his hands towards the shoes that were on the ground at the Galf's feet. However, like last time, the Galf grabbed the shoes between its jaws and darted out of the way. Senel couldn't correct his trajectory in time and slammed headfirst into the ground and got a face and mouthful of dirt. Spluttering and spitting out dirt he pushed himself upright and wiped the dirt from his eyes. The Eren ground his teeth in anger and felt the particles of gritty dirt that were stuck still in his mouth and spat a few times, but it didn't help much. Senel stood and turned to see the Galf standing about five feet away with an expression that could only be described as smug. Green eyes sparkled mischievously and a tale wagged hard, and the Galf seemed to be laughing at him.

"...Thunder Arrow!" Norma's voice rang out and a spear of lightning suddenly scored the ground right beside the Galf, who yelped and dropped the shoes, then sprang towards Senel.

"Coolidge, look out!"

What happened next left everyone a little confused at what to do.

The Galf was whimpering, tail between its legs as it cowered behind Senel. Norma lowered her straw and looked a little lost.

"Uh...looks like it's afraid of lightning, like you, C." Chloe had just come up behind Norma and was ready to fight, but when she saw the scared Galf behind Senel, looking anything but threatening, she lowered her sword.

"A-afraid of lightning? W-what gave you that idea?" She asked, then sighed. Another weakness of hers exposed for everyone to see. First her fear of water, now lightning...some brave knight she was.

"Anyway, Coolidge, how did that Galf get into your house?" Senel looked down at the frightened Galf and then at Chloe and Norma. He shrugged.

"How should I know? I just went to my house last night and went to sleep." Chloe narrowed her eyes.

"Did you forget to shut your door? It was open this morning, so I wondered if something was up." Norma nodded energetically as she slid her straw back through her belt.

"Yeah! Usually one of us can just unlock the door and go right in to wake you up." Chloe shushed Norma but it was too late, and the statement hadn't fallen on deaf ears. Not by any means.

"You....what? Mind saying that again, Norma? You all can just unlock my door? How?! Do not tell me you all have keys to my house." Norma looked away and fidgeted while Chloe's face turned bright red. "I can't believe this. It's a good thing I actually know you guys, otherwise I'd turn you into Will for breaking and entering. If I did it might not do any good...does he have a key too?"

"Well....no. He wouldn't agree to breaking into your house," Norma answered guiltily. "He'd have to arrest himself." Senel sighed heavily and rubbed his head, then twitched as he felt the Galf nudge his thigh. Then before he knew it the creature had run at full speed for his two friends and darted past them a couple of times. The girls yelped and froze, but the Galf didn't seem intent on hurting or even scaring them (though they plainly were) and returned to Senel a moment later, nudging his hand with a wet nose. He stared down at the Galf and held his hand out. Two cold objects were dropped into his palm and he lifted his hand to see what they were. He grinned and curled his fingers around the pair of metal keys.

"Well, you're pretty smart, huh?" He asked the Galf, who sat and began wagging its tail furiously, then barked once and trotted over to where Senel's shoes lay. Grabbing them between strong jaws the Galf brought them back to Senel, who wiped the drool off as best he could and put them on. "Thanks." Chloe and Norma dared to look back up at Senel and give him nervous grins, hoping he'd quickly forget about the key thing. Norma and Chloe had had copies of his key made the day he'd lost it. Norma had found it and well....things just went on from there. She'd innocently given it back to him after the job was done and until now Senel hadn't been any the wiser.

"Coolidge," Chloe said, becoming the serious person she normally was, "that Galf seems to be attached to you, but you can't possibly be thinking about keeping it." The Galf suddenly growled and Chloe blinked as Senel and Norma tensed.

"Uh....he....?" Chloe asked tentatively, her hand still on her sword.

Another growl.

"She?"

The Galf barked sharply and wagged her tail. Senel looked down at the Galf, and she looked back up at him with an innocent gleam in her eyes. He raised an eyebrow—minutes before the innocence had been mischief—then looked away and up at Chloe.

"I know I can't. But I just wonder where she came from. Giet's the only Galf in the Quiet Lands, isn't he? Wait...Moses said that Giet might have a pack down there. But maybe she came from outside of Werites Beacon somewhere. There was that pack near The Crags..." Chloe and Norma exchanged clueless glances and shrugged. "She understands most of what we're saying. Maybe we can ask her if she came from any of those places."

"Oh, no! Guys! The picnic!" Norma suddenly cried, looking frantic. "We've been gone for a long time! They're probably getting ready to go now! And Teach had a cake problem too! Let's go!" Norma took off without waiting for anyone to answer, and Chloe soon followed after casting Senel a nervous look. Senel started running too, then stopped and went back to the Galf.

"Uh....listen," he started, wondering just how much she could understand. The Galf wagged her tail once and tilted her head curiously. "Go back to my house and wait there, alright?" He looked carefully at the Galf to see how she'd react.

The Galf whined and gave Senel what he assumed was a sad look.

"I'll be back soon," Senel persisted, trying to be reassuring.

He sighed as the Galf whined and let her ears droop.

"Stay here," Senel said in a commanding tone, while gesturing towards his house.

At that the Galf pricked her ears and growled, and Senel finally gave up, realizing that no matter what he said she wouldn't stay put.

"Listen...ah, alright, you can come. But don't bother anyone or jump on them or steal their clothes, okay?"

The Galf let out a triumphant bark and began trotting around excitedly.

Senel let out a sigh as he once again resumed his run back to Will's house, hoping he'd make it in time so Chloe wouldn't get mad at him again. Suddenly he felt a tug at his wrist and was yanked to the ground. The Galf had grabbed him and was now dragging him in the direction of Will's house.

"Ah, hey, what are you—let me go! Ow!" The Galf had only tightened its grip on his wrist, and started running faster until he saw Will's house growing closer. He saw Chloe and Norma standing in front of everyone gathered outside of the house and knew they were explaining recent events. The Galf that was dragging him wasn't stopping; she seemed intent on bowling everyone over, so he gathered a breath to yell at the top of his lungs.

"WATCH OUT!"

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**Author's Note: Well, there you go, Chapter Three! How was it? I think good ^^ Notice: I might not be uploading chapters in these upcoming months. A ton of things are going on—my sister's getting married May 21, I'm going to visit relatives in June, and after that I'll be in Taiwan from July 2 to August 26 studying abroad. I probably will take my flash drive with my story files on it with me because I'll have a laptop there and I hear the internet connection is really good in Taiwan. I'm not sure how much free time I'll have since I'm taking Mandarin Chinese in the morning and Taiwan Culture in the afternoon. My stories might be going on hold but I'm not going to stop them permanently.**

**This is the busiest summer I've ever had, normally I'm a very lazy thing, but I will try and upload/write chapters whenever I can. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Review for me if you have the time please ^^**


	4. This Ain't No Picnic

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Legendia or Namco Bandai or any of the character names or names of places or attacks or anything. I just own the Galf's name which Norma will come up with shortly. So I guess that means Norma owns it. Enjoy! ^^

Chapter Five

Everyone turned and stared, bewildered, at the sight before them. The Galf stopped abruptly and jerked her head back, then forward, tossing Senel into the air. He flipped himself around in midair and landed neatly on his feet with a grunt. Moses was the first one to make a comment. Grabbing Senel's shoulders he shouted furiously in his friend's face.

"You're keepin' a Galf, Senel?! What's the matter with you? They ain't pets!" Senel pushed Moses' hands off of his shoulders and stepped back with an irritated look.

"Moses, first, don't ever breathe in my face in the morning, and second," Senel glanced down at the Galf, who wagged her tail at him, before looking back up at Moses, "I didn't get her as a pet. She just showed up in my house today. And speaking of my house...." Everyone, except Norma, Chloe, and Shirley, looked confused. Suddenly Harriet stepped up and stomped her foot, causing the ground to quake. Everyone forgot what he or she had been about to say and looked down at the little girl.

"Everyone, be QUIET! We're having a picnic today and we all worked hard cooking stuff! So let's talk about this later and have fun today!"

"Yes, ma'am," everyone chorused obediently. Even the Galf whined and lowered her head slightly.

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Senel stopped on the way to Lumen Spring to get the cakes he'd made and used one of the spare keys to get into his house, since he'd left in such a rush and forgot to take his original house key.

"See, they came in handy, didn't they?" Norma asked cheerfully, only to earn a harsh look from Senel as he emerged with the metal tray of cakes. He set the tray carefully down on the ground and made sure to close and lock his front door, lest he find some other creature inside his house when he returned.

"Whatever," he grumbled, picking up the cakes and following the group at a slow pace. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. Today was a day where they were going to have fun as a group and think about the friends that weren't with them anymore. They'd keep living their lives and having fun for the sake of the people that had ensured their existence today and stayed with them through so many good times and bad times.

"Hey, guys," Senel said, and everyone turned to look back at him without stopping. He couldn't believe he was going to say this when usually he was so somber, especially after everything that had happened. "Let's, uh....have a good time...today." Norma stared at him and giggled—was he joking? Serious, ill-tempered Senny speaking positive words? Senel felt his temper coming back, but Will raised a hand as always and was about to smack Norma, but she squeaked and leapt away.

"Yeah, let's have a party! Who says we just gotta have a picnic?" Moses crowed, bunching his hand into a fist as they finally reached the spring. He set the basket full of food he had in his other hand on the grass, ran to the spring, and did a cannonball. Norma's face broke into a wild smile and she followed suit. The Galf left Senel's side and also jumped in and started swimming over to Moses. The warrior looked a little startled as the Galf licked him clean across the face but he soon laughed and reached up to pat the creature. The Galf suddenly swam away from Moses and leapt out of the spring. Senel set the tray of cakes down, strode over and knelt in front of the Galf with a slight smile on his face. His amused expression turned to one of surprise when the Galf seized the front of his shirt and yanked him into the spring. Everyone burst out laughing, even Jay.

Will, Jay, Chloe, and a soaking Senel set up the rest of the picnic stuff while Harriet watched the three playing in the spring. After a while of listening to the sounds of splashing Will called over to them.

"Hey, if you want food, you better get out now." Norma, Moses, and the Galf looked up and hurriedly began swimming to shore.

"She's a smart little Galf," Moses said once he had exited the spring. The Galf clambered over to everyone and chose that moment to shake herself, showering everyone with water droplets, to their dismay.

"Ah, hey!"

"Watch it!"

"Don't get the food wet!" Harriet scolded, yanking her plate of cookies away so they wouldn't be ruined.

Jay leaned in close to Chloe.

"What a shame, it seems they're still edible..." he muttered, and Chloe decided to laugh for that one. Jay had started to joke around a little, open up even more then when they'd first met, and Jay himself seemed to be happier too. Happier about living, spending time with friends, and laughing most of all. Moses and Norma plopped down on the grass and Norma grabbed a sandwich (her second one that day, she thought smugly to herself) and turned to Moses.

"How'd you know she was a she, Moses? You weren't there when we asked her." Moses grinned and appeared pleased that someone was asking him about Galves.

"Ah, well, she's a little smaller than Giet, and her fangs are a little smaller too. Usually they're smaller than male Galves but just as strong. I know a lot about beasts, especially Galves, but I ain't even seen a Galf her color before," he observed the Galf's cream-colored fur as she lay in the grass, lazily enjoying the sun. Norma meanwhile was chewing her sandwich while trying to think of a name for the Galf. Usually she gave everyone nicknames, but since the Galf didn't have a name yet, she'd be the one to name her.

"Hey, I know!" She announced, and everyone looked curiously over at her. "Her name is Creamy! Sounds good, right? You think so, don't you Senny? She likes you the most, so you want a good name for her, right?" Senel gave her a nervous grin and nodded.

"Uh, yeah, it's great. But..." Moses could see what was on his friend's tongue and spoke up.

"You're gonna hafta say goodbye to her soon, Senel. Maybe she could go to the Quiet Lands and live with Giet." Shirley looked a little worried and stopped eating for a second.

"Um....do Galves usually get along with each other? They don't fight?" She asked in a quiet voice. Moses shook his head.

"Nah, they don't usually, unless another Galf or monster is intruding on their territory or unless a Galf doesn't accept the strongest Galf as the leader. Uh, but..." he said quickly, seeing Shirley was still worried, "we'll stay around and see how things go, so don't ya worry about it." Shirley smiled slightly.

"But I wonder why she went right to Senel's house," Norma wondered out loud.

"Maybe because his door was wide open," Jay stated with a small smirk and Senel rolled his eyes.

"Can you blame me? I was fighting monsters late, and then I got dragged along on a treasure hunt with Norma till way-too-late at night."

"And I got stuck with Moses last night, and don't think I don't know whose fault that was." Senel tried not to react even if Jay knew it had been him that paired Moses with Jay. "Don't think you're the only one with misfortune." Moses growled angrily and Norma pretended to be hurt.

"Aw, but it was fun, wasn't it Senny?" The silvery-white haired boy thought for a moment.

"Well, you didn't enrage any monster, so yeah, if that's what you mean by fun."

The group laughed as Norma pouted and crossed her arms. Moses broke a cookie he'd picked up from a tray in half offered some to Creamy, but she lifted her head, sniffed it and laid her ears back before dropping her head onto her paws once again. The warrior was perplexed.

"What's the matter? It's fine, see?" He took a bite of the sugar cookie and Senel saw a visible shudder run through his body.

"Moses? Do you like them?" Harriet asked when she saw he'd eaten one of the cookies she'd baked. Moses was about to gag and spit the offending cookie out but swallowed it with difficulty when he saw Will leering unpleasantly at him. How in the world could he get around this?

"Uh, well, darlin'....I'm sure if you keep practicing it'll be....even better than it was just now." He relaxed when Harriet brightened, but froze up again when she offered him another one. "Oh, no thanks, I'm too full," he said, but was eyeing the cakes Senel had made longingly, and he obviously wasn't full yet. Senel saw that there were a few left over and decided he'd give them to the poor guy; he'd gotten out of that mess and into another one—he couldn't eat anything more or else risk Harriet and Will's wrath. Will chuckled a little as he bit into his sandwich.

The rest of the day pass uneventfully, but everyone had seemed to have a good time. They'd finished eating their lunch and dessert, then either rested on the grass (Will, Harriet, and Chloe), or swam in the spring (Senel, Moses, Norma, and Creamy) then stayed at the spring until the sun started to go down.

"Phew! I think I ate too much! Everyone's food was so good!" Norma sighed as she walked away from the spring with everyone else and headed back to Werites Beacon. "This was a really fun day. I bet Grune and Stella would have loved to go on this picnic." No one said anything for a while until Senel broke the silence.

"Yeah, you're right. They would have. Stella would have been saying how good everyone could cook, and Grune would be eating a lot of Harriet's cookies."

"Heehee, really?"

Senel was in front so he didn't see the slightly startled looks he was getting. Everyone recalled that when Stella or Grune were mentioned Senel would just get a hard look in his eye and not talk to anyone or even look at them. He still wasn't making eye contact, but at least he had responded this time....forget responding, he'd almost given them a whole speech. Soon they'd reached the town and were standing in front of Will's house once again. The group figured out who'd take the leftovers and Senel made sure to give Moses the leftover two cakes that they'd all been too full to eat. Moses looked like he was about to start bawling or throw his arms around the silvery-white haired teen but, to Senel's relief, he didn't. Instead he grinned and took the tray of small cakes.

"Thanks, Senel. You're a real pal." Senel shrugged.

"Don't mention it. Really." Everyone else was busy saying goodnight and divvying up the food so they hadn't noticed the exchange between the two. "Goodnight," he told Moses and then said goodnight to everyone else and turned, heading off into the night.


	5. Who's Training Who?

**Phew. It's been a while--I've mostly been working on my other story Howling Innocence as well as doing Chinese homework. But I have finally given this story some attention and uploaded a chapter! I am still working on it, don't worry. My editing process might take longer than actuall writing the chapter because I like to re-write and change things. Anyway, here's the disclaimer that you all know, and that I've learned from other Fanfiction authors, but I'll say anyway.**

**I don't own Tales of Legendia; Namco Bandai owns the game, which is called, I think, Project Melfes.**

**Well, on with the chapter finally!**

**P.S. I lied. Stay inside during typhoons, the wind strength is crazy and so is the rain. Taipei's getting hit harder than Pingtung though, I hope the people there and everyone else in the typhoon's area are alright. I hope no one's been injured so far but this typhoon's stronger than the last one I think (although I just say that because it didn't miss the area where I am this time).**

* * *

Who's Training Who?

Instead of heading straight to his house, Senel headed for the cemetery to say goodnight to Stella. Just as he got to the row where her grave was he saw a flash of bright fur and stiffened, then realized it was Creamy. "Hey, when did you get here?" He asked softly, reaching a hand out to her and smiling when she didn't object to being stroked under the chin. Suddenly she fell over onto her back and rolled over, showing him her underbelly.

"Uh....what? You want me to...rub your stomach?" He received a bark in response and he gingerly reached out and touched her lightly, then when she didn't react negatively he started to scratch her belly. When Senel started to scratch her at the base of her ribcage one of her back legs started kicking and he jerked his hand away. But Senel noticed that the Galf was staring at him, seemingly wanting to know why he'd stopped, so he started scratching her again. The kicking thing must just mean it felt good....it seemed like a weird reflex thing though. Senel knew next to nothing about Galves, and everything he did know he'd heard from Moses. Looking up at the sky he realized the sky wasn't painted crimson, burnt orange, or deep blue anymore; the sun had set a little while ago and it was now dark, but the streetlights hadn't come on yet. "We should go back now," he said, standing, and looked at the flowers he'd left in front of Stella's grave. They were where he'd left them and still looked to be in pretty good shape. He smiled and said, "Goodnight," before turning and walking down the stairs. He noticed he felt content now and realized that when he'd knelt before Stella's grave previously he'd either been weighed down with guilt, regret, sadness, or just emptiness—more than the weights on his arms and legs could ever cause. Now, though, his whole body felt lighter and he wondered why. He knew he still missed Stella but for some reason it had been easier coming to visit her this time.

He walked to his front door and unlocked it, then barely had time to push the door open before Creamy rammed her head into it and charged inside. He heard her paws thumping up the stairs and had a sneaking suspicion he'd be sleeping on the floor tonight. He closed the door and locked it, then put the spare keys in a jar that was on a nearby table. It had gathered a ton of dust, but was just now realizing its purpose: holding stuff.

Sure enough, when Senel went upstairs he saw that the Galf had situated herself on his bed and was staring intently at him while her tail wagged back and forth, as if she was telling him he'd been too slow and this was her bed now. He sighed.

"Ok, then....Off!" Senel commanded loudly and again watched for the Galf's reactions.

Stare.

"Down!"

Whine.

"Come here!"

Head tilt.

"Hey, I'm tired!"

Growl.

"Dammit."

Tail wag.

"Grr...fine...I'll sleep on the floor. I've slept on the ground before anyway......" Senel grumbled, moving to a medium sized wardrobe across the bedroom that had spare blankets and pillows inside. He heard paws thumping the floor and he turned to see Creamy sitting on the floor beside his bed.

"Um, does that mean I can sleep there?" Creamy barked once and Senel walked away from the wardrobe. "Thanks," he said gratefully, feeling a little strange talking to her even though she seemed to understand most of what he was saying. Senel shook his shoes off and crawled into bed and got under the covers this time (it was a little cold outside) and started to drift off. As he fell asleep he felt a large weight press on top of him and registered that Creamy had crawled on top of him. Looked like she had jumped off of the bed for some reason he didn't understand, but had still wanted to sleep on his bed. She was now, and so was he, but he wished he didn't have a huge Galf on top of him. How much did she _weigh_? Seventy pounds, one hundred, or heaven forbid, even more than both of those weights combined? Senel feebly shifted in his bed, feeling his lungs becoming slightly compressed, and his body getting warmer because of the huge bundle of fur on top of him. Creamy leaned her face closer to Senel's and licked him across the cheek. The teenager felt the urge to lift his hand and wipe his face, but his arms were pinned underneath Creamy's body. So much for that then. He laughed softly and closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep even with the heavy Galf snoozing on top of him.

_____________________________

"She's older than Giet was when we started hangin' out together. She looks like she's two years old, maybe two and a half. Giet was a year old when I met him, and when I met ya'll he was about seven years old. Since she didn't know Senel when she was a pup it's more likely for her to go wild a lot faster than Giet did. It'll also be more dangerous." Will sighed and put a hand to his chin.

"So, if she's going to go wild, she hasn't done so yet...but it could be soon. We should probably take her to the Quiet Lands before she has a chance. If what Moses says about Galves living in packs is correct then she and Giet will probably be able to live together with no problems." Moses rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'm right! Who else knows Galves better than me?"

"But," Norma suddenly spoke up, "she already has a name, and that's the first step to becoming attached to something, no matter what it is." Maybe she shouldn't have picked a name for Creamy so suddenly. Deep down she knew it was probably out of the question to let Senel keep her. If he did, the people of Werites Beacon would most likely cause an uproar because of the trouble and panic Giet had caused when he'd gone wild. They definitely wouldn't want to go through that again.

"So....who wants to go talk to Coolidge? Though, he probably already has thought about it..." Chloe's voice finally broke the silence, and everyone glanced at her, and then looked away. Although the Galf had only been with Senel for a very short time they had all seen how quickly they'd bonded and started to enjoy each other's company. They also noticed a slight change in Senel because of Creamy—he seemed just a little happier these days, which in turn made them happier too, because who liked to see one of their close friends miserable? How could they tell him he needed to let her go into the Quiet Lands?

* * *

Creamy lifted her head and showed white, pointed teeth as she yawned lazily and looked around. The one called Senel was sleeping like a log, even as she stood up and jumped onto the floor with a loud thump. The young human didn't even stir in his sleep. Creamy moved to the side of his bed and licked his face, then whined. She wanted to go outside; the sun had been burning in the sky for a while and it was time to get up. She growled and nudged him roughly, but still didn't get a response. Moving around the room Creamy found an extra pillow that had been discarded sometime and bit it between her teeth. Padding back to Senel's bed she drew her head back, then forward, and tossed the pillow at him. It hit Senel right in the face but he only sneezed lightly and kept sleeping, even when the pillow hit the wall, fell back down, and flopped over his face. Huffing angrily the Galf padded down the stairs and found the jar that Senel had put the metal things in and tipped it over with her nose. The little table was about at her shoulder so it was pretty easy for her to do this and grab a key in her mouth. Padding to the door she dropped the key and only had to jump up a little to grab the doorknob in her jaws, turn it, and step away as she pulled the door open. She then grabbed the key in her mouth, returned to Senel, pulled the covers off of him and located one of his pockets. Gripping the metal object in her mouth she pushed it inside of his pocket, bit his sleeve and dragged him off of his bed, down the stairs, and out the door (the pillow somehow stayed on his face through the whole process). Creamy dropped him only once to tug the door shut behind her. Through this all Senel slept soundly, his snores muffled through the pillow. Through her mouthful of Senel's sleeve, Creamy gave an exasperated whine. She was outside now like she wanted but she wanted him to wake up and give her food--she'd snuck one of his vanilla cupcakes at the picnic the day before and liked even better than the sandwiches-- but he'd probably sleep for the rest of the day if she left him where he was. Hopefully the human's friends would know how to wake him up. The Galf bit Senel's sleeve again and trotted off, dragging him alongside her.


	6. To the Quiet Lands Again

**I think this story's chapters from now on will be dedicated to the dog that followed my friend home from a Family Mart. He's been taking care of her ever since then, and she follows him around everywhere he goes 3 He got her a collar just recently and she looks even cuter than before.**

**And also I want to have a memorial for the people who died in the typhoon...and not just them--people all over the world died not because of the typhoon--soldiers, citizens, people who were sick...so, for them, too. Because I came to Taiwan, I'm starting to think more that everyone has problems, pains, people who've died around them, their family or friends or other people. Maybe I'm a little stronger and less self-centered. I might have grown up and changed a little during the two months in Taiwan. When I get home I'm going to apply for a job, and I am also going to look at one or a few volunteering places I can help out at. I've wanted to, but I'm going to keep donating blood, I know. My campus has blood drives.**

**Sigh, well my hope that no one had been hurt in the typhoon was not that realistic (but I guess most aren't). Hundreds of people died in Typhoon Morakot. Pingtung University where I've been staying for two months got a donation of 2000 dollars for typhoon relief and my parents and I donated some to the university too. A few of my friends and I helped clean up around the campus after the typhoon was over. A ton of trees and tree branches fell down, so the campus was a mess for a few days. A tree outside of the dorms had a lot of branches that fell and recently a lot were cut off. A lot of animals died too and I've seen a lot of doggies that are homeless now...there's a treehouse on campus and I saw three dogs sleeping there today. My friends and I have been taking care of a lost dog. Like I said at the beginning of this chapter my friend found Muffin (the dog) at a Family Mart (Convenient store) after the typhoon and she followed him back to the campus and came to class with him to our teacher's surprise. Muffin has a few potential owners thanks to my friend, and she has a collar now and I think is finally tick-free (I hate those little *censored*).**

**Annnnyyyyway, I'll stop before I go on a rant about how much I hate ticks. So many things are gone after the typhoon. I visited hot springs and the Six Turtles with my host family who live in a Hakka village and both of those places are gone now. I've never been actually in a typhoon or any tropical storm (or even an earthquake which are the natural disaster where I live, and volcanoes) so I did not know firsthand how the damage could be. It won't really be the same even when the people get back on their feet again, but the people of Taiwan have so many times for earthquakes and typhoons. Other people of countries everywhere have gotten back on their feet too so many times as well. ****加油台灣! Hang in there, Taiwan! I will miss you and all of the people I met even if it was only once.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

"He probably knows that she can't stay with him," Chloe repeated nervously, "but just doesn't want to acknowledge it. Moses didn't want to. But wouldn't he have—" She was interrupted suddenly as Norma pointed off towards the road outside of Will's house and gave a little startled cry.

"Senny?!" She exclaimed, and the group turned to see Creamy the Galf with their friend's wrist firmly clamped between her jaws. She barked and in doing so released his arm, and it thumped to the ground. "Is he alright? Or is he just...sleeping?"

Senel mumbled something and Will moved closer to see if he was in a coma for some reason or just in a deep sleep, like he usually was in the morning. He lifted the pillow over the young man's face and stared down at him for a few seconds, then stood and confirmed that Senel was just sleeping.

"Any ideas on how to wake him up?" Jay asked, listening to Senel's snoring, which was muffled by the pillow covering his face. He turned to Chloe but she shook her head.

"I woke him once by yelling at him but I'm not going to start screaming my head off in public." Norma suddenly raised her straw.

"Ooh, oooh, I know; I'll zap him awake!" She began swinging her arms in preparation to cast a thunder spell. Suddenly Senel yawned and sat up slightly, and the pillow over his face slid into his lap as he began rubbing his eyes.

"Mmm...huh..? Guys? Why are you all in my room?" He was suddenly slightly more awake, but not by much. "Don't tell me Chloe and Norma _weren't_ the only ones who had extra keys?!" Will coughed as a bundle of sparks began to form above Senel's head.

"You should think about moving, Senel," he said, seeing that Norma was too far into the spell to stop it, even if her wide-eyed expression said she wanted to. The silvery-white haired boy gave Will a peculiar look.

"I like where I live. Why should I move?" He asked, annoyed, rubbing his eyes sleepily, but his arm froze as he heard electricity crackling right above him. He leapt up and away just in time and watched the ground get seared by lightning. Creamy had darted away too and was whimpering. Senel patted her gently on the head. "It's alright, it's gone now. Don't be scared." Creamy whined once more, then relaxed and wagged her tail as Senel stroked her under the chin.

"So, she's afraid of lightning?" Will asked as Norma quickly stowed her straw in the pocket of her dress.

"Yeah, when C and I first saw her we thought she was attacking Senel, so I used a lightning spell to try and scare her off, and it worked. But she hid behind Senel instead of running away." Shirley hid a giggle behind her hand.

"That's sweet. She really does like you, Senel." Shirley giggled, and Senel caught her eye and started to turn red. Norma noticed this and joined in on the light teasing.

"Yeah, who would have guessed Senny was an animal person, or that he had a soft side." This made Senel's face go even redder, and with difficulty he resisted the urge to turn quickly and stalk off, as he probably would have if he had never met any of his friends.

"Senel," Moses started uncomfortably; just before Senel had arrived he'd been elected the one to tell Senel that they should take Creamy to the Quiet Lands as soon as possible. How should he put it, though?

"Uh, Senel, we all know ya really like that Galf and we're glad ya'll get along so well but...." Senel's face turned back to its normal color and he looked at his feet, then back up at his friend.

"I know. But would Giet be alright with another Galf living down there?" Will spoke up before Moses could reply.

"We asked Moses the same thing and he said that it should be alright. It couldn't really be called a pack with just Giet, but if Creamy accepts him as the leader then nothing should go wrong. But how many of us should go?" Shirley and Chloe were about to speak up but Moses beat them to it.

"I think just me, Senel, and Creamy should go. The less people there are, the less nervous he'll be. If he starts to go wild again, it'll be easier for a small group to get away." Shirley hesitated, then stepped forward.

"But what if...something happens...and you need to be...." she trailed off and Senel approached her, looking at her gently and trying to reassure her.

"It'll be okay, Shirley. Moses knows a lot about Galves. If we're not back soon, send someone to check on us." She smiled a little and pulled something out of a bag that was around her shoulder, a bag that Senel hadn't noticed before. In her hands were a few apple gels and one lemon gel, as well as a pineapple gel. He took them and placed them carefully in his pocket.

"Thanks, Shirley. It will be fine, I promise. Everyone, we'll be back soon." Moses, Senel, and Creamy (after a bit of coaxing) turned and walked off at a steady pace for the lighthouse that would take them to the Quiet Lands.

______________________________

"This place is as big as ever," Senel muttered. "I guess we should start looking for him now if we want to find him at all."

"Hold on, Senel. We were just going to leave her here and then go, remember?" Senel sighed and faced Moses.

"Yeah, but what if she doesn't accept Giet as the leader? Then what will he do? I just want to be able to help her if she gets into trouble. I can't just leave her to some unknown fate, whether it's good or bad." Moses sniffed and clapped his hands over Senel's shoulders. "Moses, what..." Senel exclaimed, startled at the sudden gesture from Moses.

"That's the Senel I know! Always lookin' out for people." He sniffed loudly. "Even if they ain't really people!" Creamy suddenly started growling and raising her hackles. Moses removed his hands from Senel's shoulders, to Senel's relief, and turned to look off into the distance. Senel turned as well and squinted, then soon saw a blurry red figure moving slowly towards them. Moses' eyes welled up but he shook the tears away. "That's Giet, it's gotta be." As the Galf got a little closer, Senel realized that there were other shapes with him. "So...Giet has a pack," he observed with a hard look in his eye. "Then this could be a little harder than I'd thought..." he muttered, and motioned for Senel to stand back. After a moment's hesitation (and a rough shove from Moses) he did so and waited with Creamy, ready to either help Moses or grab him and make a break for the elevator. He kept his fists clenched and kept especially alert in case something went wrong. If something did, Senel would do everything in his power to grab Moses and Creamy and get out of there—even if it was at his expense.

"Giet," Moses called once the Galf had stopped about right or so feet away from them, "It's good to see ya again. But we've got a problem. A Galf showed up in town and started hanging out with Senel. But she can't stay with him, so we brought her down here. Ya'll would let her stay, wouldn't ya?" Giet moved forward, and the other four Galves stayed put and watched the reddish Galf pad closer to Senel and Creamy. Moses stood nearby, looking tense, but unmoving.

Giet sniffed the smaller cream-colored Galf for a few moments, then stepped back and seemed to be waiting for Creamy to do something, but she didn't make any movements. Suddenly she lowered her ears, tail, and head, but kept her eyes on Giet. Giet growled a little but then wagged his tail and stepped forward. Creamy raised her head and also wagged her tail, but kept it lowered. Suddenly a Galf beside Giet growled and stepped forward. The movement plus the low, rumbling sound from the other Galf made Senel automatically move in front of Creamy before Moses could tell him to stay put. Giet growled back at the other Galf, which was smaller and a steel-blue color with white on the tip of his tail, muzzle, and paws. Giet moved swiftly, approached the blue Galf, and sank his fangs into the younger Galf's neck. Senel gave a start, thinking Giet had killed the blue Galf, but Moses touched his shoulder and shook his head when Senel looked at him.

"He wasn't trying to kill him, Senel. It looks like that blue Galf wanted to challenge Giet for leadership and for Creamy as his mate—Giet accepted her, and the two probably agreed to be mates, but sometimes another Galf tries to challenge the leader so he can have that." Senel turned his head back and felt a small rush of anger.

"If there's going to be power struggles then I don't want her to stay here." Moses watched as Giet kept his fangs clamped on the younger Galf, who had flattened his ears and shown the whites of his eyes.

"See what Giet's doin'? He's showin' that Galf who's in charge. Only the leaders are allowed to mate so he wouldn't let that Galf near Creamy. He'll protect her." Senel narrowed his eyes.

"That's nice, but how can you be so sure?" Moses sighed as Senel turned his skeptical gaze towards him.

"You'll just hafta trust me, Giet, and Creamy, Senel." A whimper and thud turned the boys' attention back to what was happening; Giet had thrown the young blue Galf to the ground. The other Galves present began crowding around him, showing their teeth and giving deep, rumbling growls. Giet barked and the pack stopped but didn't hide their teeth or stop growling. Slowly, the blue Galf rose to a crouch and kept his ears flattened and tail tucked between his legs. Giet lumbered over and gave a fanged growl right into the blue Galf's face, then lifted a paw and put it on the younger Galf's head.

"What's he doing?" Senel asked quietly, puzzled, but relieved that Giet seemed to have things under control for the moment.

"Giet's showin' that Galf that he can kill him. It's a warning for him to stay away from Creamy, or else he'll kill him." Senel frowned but he and Moses looked back at Giet and the blue Galf, who rose suddenly and darted off. At a bark from Giet a yellow-furred Galf broke from the pack and followed him, but the rest remained and were now staring at their leader, as if waiting for a command—perhaps on what to do with Senel and Moses. Giet gave a quiet growl and they relaxed slightly, unmoving as the red Galf padded over to Senel, Moses, and Creamy. "I know ya'll make sure that other Galf doesn't hurt Creamy, Giet. I trust ya. Senel's countin' on ya to watch out for her too." Giet gazed steadily at Moses and tipped his head towards the ground, and if Senel didn't know better he'd have said Giet had just nodded at them. "Thanks, buddy."

Giet raised his head and moved to stand in front of Creamy. For the first time Senel could see the difference between male and female Galves; Creamy's head only came up to Giet's shoulder and the fangs that poked out from under her lip were slightly smaller than Giet's but didn't appear any less dangerous. And yet....Senel didn't feel threatened by any of the Galves. The only thing he felt now was worry for Creamy and Giet—and it seemed he'd have to just leave them now lest he risk making things worse. Leaving would be the hardest, because would Senel really be able to visit Creamy when Moses had resolved to leave Giet to his new life forever? Gritting his teeth and trying to stand the painful throb his heart gave, Senel knew he couldn't do that.

* * *

**I wrote a lot at the beginning; without that the chapter was a little short so I added more. Hopefully it won't be too long after that. :) Hope people are still enjoying reading this. I don't own the characters, names (except Creamy's), places, outfit designs, or Chloe's hat. But I wish I did, because I like it. :P**


	7. Hell's Kitchen

**Serasia: Hello! Well, it's been a while since I've uploaded a chapter for this story, but it's not dead! I've just been focusing on the other story I'm writing for D. Gray Man, and I changed this story around a little so I've been fixing it. Even though Creamy's in the Quiet Lands, things aren't over by any means. Oh, no. I won't end it that quickly. :) So enjoy the next chapter, and sorry it took so long! And just to get this over with....**

**Disclaimer – I don't own the Tales of series or Tales of Legendia or its characters or names though I wonder how many people had heard of the name Coolidge before playing the Tales series. I hadn't....and Coolidge was a president. I guess some presidents aren't that well known even if they're presidents...l wonder how they feel about that. But usually presidents don't become president just to be famous. Well, the disclaimer's done, and I've started rambling. Enjoy the chapter!  
Oh, and I also don't own the show "Hell's Kitchen" which I used to name the chapter. :D**

* * *

Chapter Seven

"Moses..." Senel began uncomfortably, turning his body to look at Moses, who turned and stared back. When the bandit saw that his friend looked anxious his downcast expression became concerned.

"What's the matter? I told you they'll be fine. Giet will look after her and I bet Creamy can look after herself, too. Galves are born fighters, especially the females, because they have to look after their pups." Senel twitched.

"So...you said Giet and Creamy are...mates now?" Moses nodded.

"Yeah. You know what that means, right?" The bandit asked, with a slight hint of teasing that didn't go unnoticed by the silver-haired teenager.

"Yes, I know what it means!" Senel snapped, his face turning slightly red, but Moses just laughed.

"We should go now, Senel. Time to say goodbye." Senel turned to Creamy, who tilted her head at him and began wagging her tail back and forth slowly. The Galf whined as the Iron Eren knelt in front of her and lifted a hand to stroke her under the chin. Creamy leaned forward and licked him across the face.

"Well, I guess I have to go. Sorry I didn't bring anything for you to eat, like the cupcakes." Creamy tilted her head as if she didn't know what Senel was talking about. "I saw frosting on your face yesterday—you're a sugar fiend, aren't you? I would have given you more if I knew you liked them." The female Galf barked playfully and licked Senel again, who resisted the urge to wipe at his face. Then Senel remembered the objects in his pocket and drew them out—the two Apple Gels, Lemon Gel, and Pineapple Gel Shirley had given him. He held out his hand and Creamy licked up the two Apple Gels. Giet strode up and took the Pineapple and Lemon Gel, but Creamy didn't seem to mind, as if she didn't like food that was too sweet or sour.

"Senel..." Moses said, clearing his throat, and the Iron Eren stood quickly and gave Creamy one last pat on the head and stroked her behind the ears before turning to walk away. Senel heard Creamy give a sad-sounding whine, and forced himself not to turn, and didn't hear any paws coming after him. When Moses and Senel got to the elevator, even though Giet and Creamy would have been out of sight, they didn't turn around. Senel silently pressed the buttons on the elevator's control panel and felt the familiar shaking of the elevator as it began to move. "She'll be fine down there with Giet, Senel. And don't worry 'bout that other Galf—Giet will keep him under control." Senel looked at Moses and nodded once, then looked away. They were silent for a moment and the only thing audible was the humming of the elevator as it rose. Then Moses suddenly broke the silence. "You'll just hafta deal with bein' a long-distance grandpa," he said, grinning, and Senel looked at his friend quickly, eyes wide. Then the Iron Eren gave a short, nervous laugh and shook his head.

"Don't say stupid things," he sighed, but had a slight smile on his face. The elevator finally reached the top and when it stopped the two friends stepped off and headed back into the heart of Werites Beacon.

* * *

"Senel....I-I m-mean, Coolidge! You've stayed in there long enough, and it's half past noon now! Come out, or I'll break your door down, do you hear me!?" The knight banged a few times on Senel's front door. "Senel...I mean, Coolidge!" She yelled, then flushed red and corrected herself again, and used a calmer, more understanding voice as she spoke again. "I know you're upset about Creamy. Even if she was just here for a short time you let her in as a friend really easily. I thought I'd be mad that you let an animal in more easily than me...us...but I wasn't. You used to not let anyone in. It might be because of us that you can now. You can get through this...I'll help, because you wanted to help me back then..." Looking around quickly, and turning even redder, Chloe was relieved to see that no one was around so she raised her voice and yelled. "So get out here, Senel Coolidge!"

"Chloe?" A voice asked from the knight's left, and she jumped and let out a startled scream, then turned and saw that Senel himself was standing in front of her. He had a grocery bag over his shoulder and was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile. "...If you wanted to call me Senel, no one would mind, you know. And it's fine with me." Chloe couldn't help it and continued to blush.

"Wh-what do you mean, Coolidge?" The knight stammered, and to her dismay, she observed that Senel appeared to be trying not to laugh. "Don't laugh at me, Se—Coolidge!"

"Who? SeCoolidge?" The Iron Eren asked, still half-smiling, and Chloe waved her arms.

"Give it a rest, Coolidge! I wanted to come see how you were doing, but you're just going to make fun of me—!" Senel's smile vanished as he realized that Chloe was genuinely upset.

"Chloe....thanks. That means a lot to me." There was an awkward pause until Chloe decided to speak a moment later.

"So...um...Coolidge...you were already out when I got here. Does that mean you got up early?" Senel frowned and nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so. I didn't really think about it." Chloe lifted an eyebrow.

"That's a first. Are you feeling alright?" The knight asked quizzically, since it was common for Senel to sleep like a rock even with the most sincere attempts to wake him up.

"I'm feeling fine....why do you ask?" Chloe snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Do you really need to....Coolidge, don't you remember when we all tried to wake you up a few days ago? And all the other times before that?" Senel scratched his head.

"I don't remember. I think it's because I was asleep." Senel smiled and Chloe stared at him, and to her dismay she felt her face flushing and her heart give a hard thump. Senel stared at her and looked a little puzzled. "Should you be worried about me? Your face is flushed; are you getting sick?" Chloe shook her head, relieved but somewhat annoyed.

"No, I'm not! I'm fine...it's just a little hot out today," the knight said quickly, then waved her hands to fan herself.

"Oh. Yeah, it is a little hot today." Again Chloe felt annoyed, but she didn't say anything; trying to find something else to talk about, the knight's eyes drifted towards the grocery bag Senel held and nervously started up a conversation.

"You were out shopping? What, um...are you going to make?" Senel glanced at the bag under his arm, then looked back towards Chloe with a slight grimace on his face.

"Will came by a while before you did and asked me to give Harriet a cooking lesson...since I guess he's given up on teaching her himself....or doesn't know how," the eren mumbled crossly in an undertone. "So I'm going to get a few more things in my house and go over there." Chloe held a hand to her face, hiding her wince of sympathy.

"How'd he get you to agree?" She asked gingerly, and Senel sighed.

"He threatened that if I didn't teach her, he'd make me eat everything she cooked for supper tonight...so I figured I'd help out rather than die from food poisoning. If I'm lucky Harriet will start to get better." Chloe couldn't help it; she laughed, and Senel gave her a look before laughing too. "I'd better get going or else Will will think I've skipped the country." The Iron Eren headed towards his front door and pulled a key from his pocket, then unlocked the front door and went inside. "It's a little cooler in here if you want to come in," he called to Chloe, and after a moment of hesitation, she went in. The house still smelled nice, like it was new, and Chloe found she was impressed that Senel had kept it so clean since he'd started living in it...that time felt so long ago now. Senel had added a few more things to the house, like a whistle Moses had carved out of wood and given to Senel for a present on Christmas, and a small doll that Harriet had given him on the same holiday that she'd made to look like Senel. Chloe giggled quietly as she studied it; the doll had two googly eyes and a bunch of cotton fluff for his hair, and the outfit that Harriet had made for him looked like a white dress instead of something like a skirt. She thought it was funny, but admired Senel for keeping it even if he'd probably been a little embarrassed to get it.

A painting of some sort of a griffin monster had been given to Senel by Will, and Chloe spotted it hanging in Senel's kitchen, a rock that was partially broken to reveal green crystal on the inside had been given to him by Norma. Jay had given Senel a cooking knife, and Chloe remembered thinking it was very well made and decorated; Jay had made the blade from the sharp part of a shell, and the handle from a pretty white ridged shell. Shirley had given him a wind chime decorated with clear white crystals and a light blue and orange feather. Chloe felt happy when she looked at Senel and noticed that he was still wearing her present—fisticuffs decorated with gray and blue designs, and some white in between the gray and blue. They were made of a very durable material that decreased shock to the wearer's hands and arms when fighting.

"Want me to help take anything over to Will's?" Chloe asked suddenly, and Senel, who was rummaging through a kitchen counter stood up and looked at her.

"Sure, if you don't mind. I just need to take some bowls and ingredients over there. If you could carry this," Senel approached Chloe and handed her a bowl with some large spoons and measuring cups in it, "then that'd be a big help. And d you think you could also—"

"No."

"Thought not," Senel sighed, "but it was worth a try, I guess." Chloe smirked, took the bowl, and waited for Senel to finish getting ready, and then the two walked out of the house together. Senel turned towards the door once they were outside, took the key from his pocket, and then stared at the doorknob with his hand stopped halfway towards it. Chloe frowned worriedly.

"Se—Coolidge?" She cursed herself for almost slipping up again but quickly pushed the thought aside. Something was wrong with Senel; a glazed look had come into his eyes. Then it hit her suddenly; Creamy had met Senel because he'd forgotten to lock his door. It occurred to her he might be recalling that same memory, and wondering that if he didn't lock his door, the Galf would be in his house waiting when he got back. "You and Moses left the elevator at the top, didn't you?" She asked softly, and that seemed to jolt Senel out of his thoughts. He locked the door quickly, turned, and began to walk towards Will's house.

"Yes. I don't know if they'd figure out how to use it, but we figured to leave it at the top so there wouldn't be a chance. And we both know we won't go down there again..." Chloe flinched and tried to talk about something else.

"So, how long are you going to be cooking with Harriet? If things get too bad then I'll think about coming to help you," the knight said, smiling, and Senel returned the smile but narrowed his eyes.

"Thanks. But you'll probably be just in time to find my food-poisoned body. Will only really wants me to teach Harriet a new recipe. It doesn't have bread or anything so she's..." Senel coughed and lowered his voice even though there was one more block to go before Will and Harriet's house, "even more lost than usual. It's curry rice and chicken. I brought a few of the ingredients and Will has some at his house."

"I see....well, good luck!" Chloe exclaimed, then turned and walked off so she wouldn't be caught by Will and possibly forced to cook with Harriet. Senel turned quickly and watched Chloe rush off.

"Hey, Chloe!" He yelled, but she was gone. "Huh...she didn't waste any time getting out of here...too bad I can't do the same," the Iron Eren muttered.

"Senel? Who are you talking to?" An inquisitive voice asked from somewhere near Senel's elbow, and he looked down to see Harriet peering up at him with an excited expression. "You're teaching me to cook today, right?" She asked happily, then grabbed the eren's hand and dragged him inside her house. Senel forced a grin and Harriet let go of his hand when they arrived at the kitchen.

"So, did your dad tell you what we were cooking today?" Senel asked, trying to sound enthusiastic, and Harriet spun happily and nodded.

"Yep, he told me were making curry! He really likes it but we hardly ever get the stuff to make it, so I don't really know how, so you're going to teach me today! My dad just got chicken today so let's hurry and start cooking it before it goes bad!"

"Alright....let's get the stove ready," Senel sighed, and walked over to start it up.

* * *

"Alright, Harriet, pay attention and we'll get started. First, cut the chicken into one inch strips..." Senel looked up from the recipe at what the girl was doing and shook his head. "No, _inch_, not foot...it's fine, just cut that one into smaller pieces." Harriet nodded eagerly and began cutting the chicken strip in half. Senel pulled the cooking knife Jay had given him from his pocket and began helping Harriet cut the chicken into strips. Then they set them on a plate and finished mixing the chicken stock, then put it in the pan on the stove and waited for it to start simmering. "Alright, that's good enough. Now let's put them in the pan."

"This is really fun, Senel!" Harriet giggled. "Usually I'm really annoyed with cooking by now but this is great!" Senel smiled and gave Harriet tips as she eagerly but nervously started putting the chicken slices into the pan.

"Just put them in carefully and be careful not to get splashed," Harriet nodded and lowered one strip of chicken into the pan that had the chicken stock in it, then with a triumphant look put the others slices of chicken in the pan. As they waited for the chicken to finish cooking, Senel started chopping onions and ginger, while he instructed Harriet to start steaming the rice and once he was done with the onions and ginger Senel began making the curry sauce. Harriet continued to watch the rice, but looked sideways at Senel and frowned.

"Senel, are you sad?" The question took him by surprise and he stopped stirring the sauce suddenly, and stared at Harriet.

"Uh....what do you mean?" He asked, and Harriet 'tsk'ed him while shaking her head.

"About Creamy....do you miss her? Everyone's worried that you're upset, you know, but they're upset too. I miss her; I like doggies. I wish she could have stayed, too. I wanted to give her some more of my cookies." Senel laughed before he could stop himself and Harriet gave him a sharp look. "What?" She demanded, waving a wooden spoon that she was using to periodically stir the chicken slices.

"Oh, just, I...think she would have liked them, but probably something like this better." Harriet frowned at Senel, who inwardly winced, but suddenly she nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, she's a doggy, so she'd like chicken better. Think we could take some to her someday, Senel?" The Eren's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly.

"No, I don't think so," he answered, thinking of the blue Galf that had challenged Giet before. Harriet going down there even with someone watching her would be too dangerous.

"Why not? She'd be happy to see us." Senel scratched his head, trying to think of a good way to explain.

"Yeah, but she can't live with us—she's a wild animal, and she'll be happier where she's living now with a lot of other Galves. Sometimes it's...dangerous to be around Galves...understand? They're usually not comfortable around people."

"But you miss her—why don't you go see her? And Moses misses Giet, too. You should both just go see them!" Senel sighed, frustrated, then smelled something burning slightly, and he set the pot with the sauce in it down quickly and headed over to the stove. Grabbing a kitchen towel he used it to pull the pan off of the hot surface, quickly got a clean plate, and tipped the slices onto it. Giving a relieved sigh Senel went to the sink and ran cold water over the pan for a few minutes.

"That was close, but it didn't burn that much. How's the rice coming?" He asked distractedly, hoping Harriet would drop the subject of Creamy and Giet, and saw the girl checking it.

"I think it might be almost done," she replied and Senel left the pan in the sink, got a bowl of water, and poured it over the burning logs in the oven but began heating the curry sauce with the remaining heat.

"Great. So, was your dad going to come home and try it? It's his favorite, right?" Harriet nodded.

"Yeah, but he won't be back for a while. He wants just us to have it." Senel turned and put the empty bowl near the sink and ground his teeth furiously. "But I can make it for him later, since you taught me how, Senel. I think this cooking stuff is making a little more sense now." Forcing his face not to look angry, Senel turned and forced a grin and Harriet beamed at him.

"Really? Well, that's good....but...." Senel couldn't believe he was saying this, "if you need any more help cooking, just....let me know." The girl jumped up and down once, then landed heavily, and the floor vibrated a little.

"Thanks, Senel! You're the best!" Harriet giggled, then jumped towards Senel and hugged him around the neck. The Iron Eren rubbed his forehead and felt his face turning red and was glad no one was around to see him. Suddenly the door opened and voices filtered into the house.

"Harriet, Senel! I thought I'd come check on you two—hey, smells good. Is it almost ready?" Senel turned and gaped at Will, Chloe, Jay, Moses, and Shirley standing there with hints of smiles on their faces as they surveyed the scene.

"Isn't that sweet," Jay said with a smirk, immediately taking note of his friend's red face, and Senel glared at him. "So, it's ready?" Jay asked, and Moses sniffed the air.

"It smells great, but will we be able to eat without—" The bandit didn't get to finish; Will's fist banged down on his head and Moses held his head in agony as the others walked into the kitchen. Harriet let go of Senel and jumped to the floor, then ran to Will and hugged him.

"Hey! I cooked a good supper today, dad! It's going to be great!" Will smiled and patted Harriet gently on the head, then walked to the cabinets and started taking dishes out. Senel removed the pot of curry sauce from the stovetop and grumbled irritably.

"So you guys came over for dinner after all, huh?" He asked, giving his friends a look, and they smiled guiltily back.

"We got forced into coming here too, you know," Jay hissed in an undertone as he helped Will set the table. Shirley brought plates over to Senel so they could put the curry rice on them. The fact that his friends had been forced to come too made the whole 'cooking lesson' thing worth it.

* * *

**Me: The Legendia world has mostly bread in all the recipes...except for the bagel with salmon. I introduced curry into the Legendia world from the other Tales of worlds...because Japanese curry is the BEST, in my opinion....and I'm hungry now....I gotta go get something to eat! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D I liked writing it even with the side effect of getting hungry...I'm definitely going to attempt making Japanese style curry soon! The recipe Senel was going by in this chapter was from one I found online, so I'm going to use that. Hope I can find all the ingredients though, since Japanese style curry is different from the yellow curry that I think is known by most people in U.S./Canada....but I'm not completely sure...anyway, later! I'll still be working on this story but like I said earlier I am paying more attention to my D. Gray Man Fanfiction so updates will be more frequent for that one. Hope that doesn't bug anyone too much :)**


	8. Games, Games, and More Games

**Oh, sumer is a-cumin in, loudly sing coo-coo....**

**Jay: None of that.**

**Norma: Plus it's still winter.**

**Me: Right...okay, I don't own Tales of Legendia, or the song; it's speculated that W. de Wycombe composed it sometime around 1260. I just own this story and the character Creamy who will be showing up again soon. :)**

**Jay: .....Heh.**

**Me: Ah, crap! Did I just do that!? That spoiler...? Darn it!**

Games, Games, and More Games

"Senel, that was a great meal! Thank you!" Shirley exclaimed happily after wiping her face with a napkin. "You've always been good at cooking, even when you were little." Chloe nodded, also smiling. Inwardly she'd felt a pang when Shirley said that, but didn't know why.

"Well," Senel laughed, looking at Harriet, "we're glad you liked it. Right?" The little girl smiled and looked proud of herself.

"Yeah, it was good," the knight answered quickly, and something hit her suddenly. _I can't believe myself. I'm… _Chloe thought. She rubbed her head, ashamed, as she realized what the feeling she had could be—jealousy? Jealously that Shirley had known Senel a lot longer than she had? Or was it a sad admiration that they knew each other so well when Chloe didn't? Norma, sitting next to Chloe, looked sideways at her with a worried expression.

"C, you okay? Did the onions get to you?" Senel looked up, eyebrows raised and eyes widened slightly in concern.

"Chloe? Are you alright?" He asked. "These onions were pretty strong." Chloe sighed quietly then smiled.

"Oh, I'm fine. I think I'm just a little tired. But now that you mention it, they are a little strong." Chloe was glad that the subject had been shifted. "How did you stand them?" Senel was about to answer when Harriet giggled.

"Senel was crying a lot," she said, stifling the giggles long enough to speak. "I asked if he was sad and he said no but he kept crying." Senel rubbed his forehead and gave a worn-out smile.

"That's why I didn't let you chop the onions, Harriet. They really make your eyes sting," he said, then sniffed his sleeve. "I'll probably smell like them for a while…" he muttered under his breath, but Jay heard and smirked.

"You and Moses should get along well while you wait for it to wear off, then," he quipped, and everyone gave each other nervous looks before they burst out laughing—everyone except Senel and Moses, that is.

"You sayin' I smell like onions?" Moses demanded, looking annoyed, and Jay held up his hands and shrugged.

"Actually, I like the smell of onions better," Jay said casually even though he still had a smirk on his face. "You smell like you jumped in a swamp and then ran through some wild garlic."

"So you think Senel smells better even if onions stink too." Harriet managed to gasp, since she was still laughing. Senel sighed and stood and began gathering everyone's plates. Shirley and Chloe stood and spoke at the same time.

"Let me help you with those," they offered, then stared at each other for a moment before laughing awkwardly.

"I guess…Senel could wash them…and we could dry them and put them away," Chloe stammered, since everyone was staring. Shirley nodded eagerly.

"Good idea," she said and the three of them walked into the kitchen and made a sort of production line: Senel washed the dishes, Chloe dried them and Shirley put them away. An uncomfortable silence stretched out between them as they quietly finished their tasks. The silence was broken when Will clapped his hands to get the group's attention.

"Well, everyone, it's time to play games," Will said with a smile and Senel narrowed his eyes. The plan, he had realized, wasn't that Harriet and he would eat the curry by themselves. Everyone would eat together and then have a game night. As the group wandered into the living room and took a seat—Chloe, Norma, and Harriet on the couch while Senel, Jay, and Moses sat in chairs around the coffee table. Will, however, stood off to the side and held up a piece of paper. "I made everyone write down earlier which games they wanted to play and I picked the most popular ones." He read the list. "The ones we can play are Charades, Twenty Questions, Story Telling, the I Have Never game, and lastly Can't Smile."

"Let's play Can't Smile first! I love that game!" Norma exclaimed excitedly, and Harriet nodded in agreement.

"I like that one too! Let's play it!" She said, smiling hugely and every nodded dutifully, not wanting to disagree with either of them. Harriet poked Norma's arm. "You go first!" She ordered and the Crystal Eren stood eagerly and walked over to Jay, who had a tense look on his face.

"Do you love me?" She asked with a hand over her mouth as she tried not to snort with laughter as Jay's eyes widened in alarm.

"What does that have to do with smiling?" He demanded, still looking bewildered and vaguely distressed as he leaned away, but Norma laughed.

"That's how the game is! I have to ask you if you love me and you have to say, 'I love you but can't smile', so if you smile or laugh when you say it you lose and have to ask someone else." Jay stared disbelievingly at her and she frowned at him. Moses and Harriet snickered while everyone else had smiles of amusement on their faces.

"Whatcha waitin' for, Jay?" Moses asked teasingly and received a dark glare. "Go ahead and say it."

Gritting his teeth and crossing his arms Jay growled, "I love you but can't smile." Norma hit him on the back and smiled.

"I think it'd be good if you did smile, Jay-Jay!" The Crystal Eren advanced on Jay with her hands raised and he seemed to sense what was coming and gave her a warning glance.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he snapped, backing away in his chair. Suddenly he jumped up and made an attempt to run but Norma pounced towards him and began tickling him under the arms. "S-stop it! Hahah, I'm serious, Norma! Hahaha, if you," Jay choked out through laughs, "don't stop then you'll regret it! Hahaa….leave me alone!" Moses and Harriet were howling with laughter and Jay fell to his knees as Norma suddenly stopped tickling him. Panting and trying to erase the grin on his face Jay glared at the Crystal Eren. Looking like nothing had happened Norma gave Jay a superior look.

"Well, Jay-Jay, I think you're it now. Go ask someone!" Still glaring Jay stood and watched as Norma sat down, then cast his vengeful gaze around the room. Moses' and Harriet's laughter slowly died away as he looked at them.

"Alright then…since I'm it I'm changing the game." Norma let out an indignant yell and wagged her finger.

"You can't do that, Jay-Jay!" She said reprovingly but Jay just shrugged indifferently.

"I already did. You guys play Story Telling and the stupid bandit goes first." Moses ignored the insult, leapt up from the his chair ran to the front of the room as Jay sat down.

"Alright," Moses said with a hint of a smile, "I was walking through Werites Beacon one day when suddenly my little bro Jay appeared!"

"What?" Jay exclaimed. "You can't just drag me into this!"

"Already did," Moses chuckled. "So get on up here!" Jay grumbled and went up when Norma and Harriet gestured for them to. Once Jay was standing in front of Moses he gazed coldly at him but a malevolent grin was on his face.

"I saw Moses walking down the street and I said, 'Why, Moses, I thought that was you!'" Moses grinned.

"How'd ya know it was me, Jay?" Senel and Chloe exchanged amused glances; they suspected what was coming next.

Jay pretended to be confused. "I could smell you from a mile away. It had to be you!" Everyone, even Shirley and Chloe after a moment of hesitation, burst out laughing. Moses laughed and missed the glint that appeared in Jay's eyes; he turned to Norma and asked, "Norma, would you mind giving me a hand? I think Moses needs a bath." The Crystal Eren jumped up, pulling her wand from inside her sleeve.

"No problem!" She said gleefully, waving her arm, moving it in arcs as she began casting a spell. Moses' eyes widened and he staggered back a few feet, waving his arms in a plea for Norma to stop but she finished casting the spell and shouted, "Spread!" A small wave of water crashed down on Moses and he spluttered when it finished. "All clean!" Norma giggled triumphantly as she stowed her wand back into her sleeve and looking proud of herself she returned to her seat. Harriet beamed at her and Norma smiled back. Jay nodded at the Crystal Eren.

"Thank you, Norma." Turning to Moses Jay crossed his arms. "Wasn't it nice to see Norma? And I think you might owe her some thanks." Moses coughed out a bit of water, took a deep breath, and suddenly hooked his arm around Jay's neck. "What are you doing, stupid bandit?" Moses started ruffling Jay's hair with his fist. "Let go of me!" Jay demanded, struggling, and a moment later Moses released him and started laughing. Jay gave him a murderous glare and lunged at him, but the bandit dodged and the two chased each other around. Harriet and Norma leapt off the couch and joined in a moment later while the remaining members of the group remained sitting with amused or startled expressions on their faces. After a while they settled down when Will decided to give everyone, even those who had just been watching a smack on the head. He merely ruffled Harriet's hair and told her to calm down, though, and once everyone had calmed down Harriet began a game of Twenty Questions. It continued for several rounds, and by the end of the evening the friends were winding down by playing Charades, which had become loud and crazy. But after Moses finished his turn by pretending to be a penguin, everyone's laughter slowly died away and the group began yawning.

"What time is it?" Norma asked sleepily, her eyes half-closed. Chloe gazed wearily over at the clock in the hall.

"Eleven o'clock. It's time for me to go." There were murmurs of agreement.

"Hey," Moses said, "That was fun but I'm beat. Well, I'll see ya'll tomorrow."

"Yeah, tonight was really fun, guys," Norma said, yawning, then headed towards the door. Everyone except Will followed, and Harriet ran after them and waved goodbye.

"Thanks for coming! And thanks for cooking with me, Senel!" the girl called, and Shirley smiled at Senel, who looked a little embarrassed as he turned and waved goodbye to Harriet. Jay said goodnight to his friends after leaving Will's house because he was going home to the Oresoren, Chloe waved farewell as she headed for the hospital, while Norma headed towards Madam Musette's house, where she was currently staying in an extra room, and Shirley told Senel goodnight before walking towards a house a few blocks away from where Senel lived. She had begun renting out a house like Senel, and the two both now were working hard at their jobs so they could afford to pay their rent. They could get money from monsters as well but they'd decided to find a way of earning money that was less dangerous. Senel had applied for a job at the bakery and he'd been accepted. Shirley had applied to work in the hospital, and upon doing this she'd realized that Chloe had decided to work there too because she wanted to help the hospital in return for letting her live there.

When Shirley and Chloe had asked if they could possibly work at the hospital, to their surprise (since neither person had experience as extensive as the doctor and nurses) the doctor had not refused but instead asked if they'd be interested in learning to become nurses. Once they'd trained enough they'd start receiving pay. This had been a month and a half or so ago, and gradually the two were learning more about the medical field and were now being paid for working full-time. Since Shirley already knew a little about first-aid she'd helped Chloe right when the knight had first started working at the hospital. When Chloe had expressed interest, Shirley had decided to teach her about Crystal Eres and tell her how Crystal Eres to heal. Since the knight used Iron Eres, neither person was sure that Chloe would be able to use Crystal Eres to heal. Even so Shirley knew that Chloe, because of all the training she'd done at the hospital, was just as good as a healer. The two Erens had learned how to take a pulse, perform basic first aid, and were now learning how to help someone who was choking and perform rescue breathing, things that Crystal Eres couldn't help (and since Chloe didn't use that type of Ere she was anxious to become better at that part of the medical training).

Shirley and Chloe had gradually become closer because of the time they worked together at the hospital, but there were still sometimes moments of awkwardness because of how things were between the two of them and Senel. By now everyone in the group knew that Chloe was becoming fonder of Senel. Even Senel, who for so long had been oblivious, now was getting the hint that Chloe might have feelings for him. He still acted the same around her but sometimes his unease around Chloe and Shirley was obvious. The fact that he and Shirley had performed the Rite of Feriyen didn't make things any easier to deal with but somehow the awkwardness between Senel and Shirley had caused them just to be friends. It was painful to think about sometimes, and uncomfortable the other times.

Shirley stopped abruptly as a strange sound floated through the air. Straining her ears she realized a moment later that the sound was howling. She thought of Giet and all the other Galves down in the Quiet Lands and figured it must be them all howling together. The sound was haunting and it sent a chill up the Crystal Eren's spine but she stood on the streets for a while longer until it gradually faded, and then she began walking to her house again. The howling had probably carried through most of Werites Beacon, and everyone else had probably heard it even if it was faint. As Shirley walked she thought about how Senel seemed to have cheered up when everyone had gone to Will's house and she hoped it had made everyone feel better about missing Creamy, too. Shirley paused in front of her door and wondered if Senel would want to take care of a cat. There were quite a number of stray cats around Werites Beacon and although they found food well enough on their own, some were pretty friendly and might not be bothered about living in a person's house. Then Shirley smiled and laughed to herself; although Shirley thought cats were cute, she knew Senel wasn't exactly a cat person, even though most cats seemed to like him. Shirley had teased him about it once, saying that she wondered if he smelled like fish, and Senel predictably thought she meant that he smelled bad instead of meaning that he was a cat magnet.

With a small yawn Shirley unlocked her front door and went inside, locked it, and then set her key in a light blue bowl on the counter. Her house was similar in design to most of the other houses in Werites Beacon: made of wood, a blue roof, and wooden steps leading up to a porch in the front. It had a medium-sized living room right when you walked in, and the furniture there consisted of two wooden chairs a wooden couch with an earthy-green cushion on it. A medium-sized kitchen was just beyond it, with a nice counter and another smaller counter with a double sink. Shirley went into the kitchen and opened a window halfway; she always window open slightly so a cool breeze would keep the house cool in the summer. She'd bought the house in the summer so there had been no use for the fireplace as of yet but in the winter she'd definitely use it to keep warm since it got fairly cold in Werites Beacon. There was a loft upstairs similar to the one in Senel's house but it didn't have a use now; past the staircase leading to it was Shirley's room and she headed there now. It had been a busy day and she was ready to collapse in bed and probably sleep in. She hoped no one would come and try to wake her up like she and the others did to Senel whenever he slept in….though he usually slept until almost noon on some days whereas Shirley habitually woke up a few hours earlier than that.

Slipping her shoes and socks off Shirley got into her nightclothes and slipped into bed. As she was trying to fall asleep she thought she heard the Galves in the Quiet Lands howling again, and as the haunting melody continued, it slowly lulled her to sleep.

**Phew! Sorry I didn't update forever on this! I have not given up on it and there are going to be more chapters after this. I kinda sorta have an idea of how the story's going to end but I want to do some more chapters before it does. Hope everyone liked this chapter. It was just mostly fun and craziness and explaining stuff about what the characters do. It's fun to add more to the Legendia world; I just hope it makes sense. Hope I'm not bugging anyone with the pairings I'm doing…things will probably just be how I think people should be paired but be warned I think I suck at writing about relationships. But anyway, I better go to bed, since I have classes tomorrow. I have a lot…I'll probably be busy…but I handled taking Chinese in Taiwan for two months and got good grades even though I'd never taken Chinese before darnit! So I think I can handle being busy with classes in English (except for one of my classes which is Japanese, and I think I can handle that too). Not trying to brag here. But I'll stop talking before it becomes two in the morning like last time. :) Night all! Or good morning! :)**


	9. To Safety

**Ooooh weeeeee!!**

**Moses: She's finally gone crazy. Norma, use lightning to knock her out so we can get somewhere safe….**

**Me: I'm not crazy!**

**Jay: At least not the kind of crazy that they give you medicine for?**

**Me: Right! I'm just excited to be updating this story! It's been a long time since I uploaded a chapter last! And now summer is here!**

**Senel: Ah.**

**Me: Alright, disclaimer, and then you can read! I don't own Namco Bandai, Tales of Legendia, Legendia's characters (except Creamy but she's not really in the game), or the bagel that Chloe may or may not get later at the bakery. (Bites bagel) Mmm, that is good. Thanks for being so patient, those of you who are reading!**

**Chloe: H-Hey! Give that back!**

Chapter 9

Senel came awake abruptly with his heart thumping fast. He felt hot all over but a strange cold sweat had him feeling chilled at the same time. The Iron Eren sat up in bed, trying to slow his rapid heartbeat and calm down. _What happened? Was I dreaming about something?_ If he had been, he couldn't remember what it had been about. It was a night a few weeks after Moses and Senel had taken Creamy to The Quiet Lands. Senel took a deep breath and lay back down in his bed, arm over his eyes, and soon felt his heartbeat slow to a resting pace. But he still had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and the back of his neck was prickling slightly. Senel froze suddenly and held his breath when he heard a shuffling, scratching noise coming from downstairs. As he listened, it suddenly stopped, then started again a moment later. _Maybe that was it. _Slowly Senel got up from his bed and slipped his shoes on. It was still dark, either late at night or early in the morning, but the moon was out and shining brightly which gave Senel enough light so he could make his way towards the stairs.

Warily he made his way to the first floor, fists raised and senses alert. A hot feeling of apprehension was growing inside him but he kept his mind calm and walked slowly to his front door. He jumped away from the door and went into a fighting position when the scratching noise came from directly in front of him. Then he moved closer again; the noise sounded like it was coming from the other side of the door. Inhaling deeply, Senel reached his right hand for the doorknob and in a single motion twisted it and yanked the door open. Then he immediately lunged forward, fists raised, but stopped when he heard a familiar noise—a whine. Standing in the moonlight, her fur turned pure white by its glow, was the Galf Creamy.

"Creamy?! It's you! How did you get here?" The Iron Eren stepped quickly towards the Galf but she backed away, pinned her ears, and growled. Immediately Senel stopped and withdrew a few paces. "What's the matter? I'm sorry I almost attacked you, but I didn't mean to hurt you. I thought…never mind. Now, what's the….?" Senel trailed off as his gaze drifted from Creamy to down the road. In the moonlight he could just make out a dark trail of something that came from a corner and led to Creamy. The Iron Eren tired again to approach Creamy, but this time moved slowly, and the Galf didn't growl at him like before. Senel knelt slowly and touched Creamy under the chin and stroked it a few times. "You're hurt." Inching around to the Galf's side Senel observed a dark cut in her side and another dark wound in her left hind leg. Creamy whined and pushed her head into Senel's shoulder, who carefully rubbed her behind the ears before jerking his hand away; he felt a small cut and sticky blood there. "It's okay," he soothed, then said, "My friends can help you get better, but I need to take you to them. I'm going to carry you." Creamy gave a whine that might have been annoyed when Senel wrapped his arms around her, and when he tried again, she limped behind him. Senel sighed and was about to rise to his feet and walk her to Shirley's house when he felt a huge weight make him bend almost in half. It seemed Creamy had been able to jump on his back because he'd been crouching low enough. Even with her injured leg she had jumped onto him and was now clinging to his back in something very like piggyback-style. Senel felt her paws slipping off of his shoulders and quickly grabbed her wrists, pulled her up onto his back more, then reached his arms backward and held her so she wouldn't slide off.

"Ugh…" the Iron Eren grunted. "You're still…really, really heavy," he said, straining not to bend forward with Creamy's weight as he began walking towards Shirley's house. The Galf gave a weak growl and Senel felt her teeth nip sharply at his ear. "Even injured," Senel panted, "you have a sense of humor. You'll be fine." He said, but still was worried about her. If that steel-blue Galf who had challenged Giet had done this to Creamy, then how was Giet doing? It was true that he could take care of one mutinous Galf but what if he had turned part of the pack against him? Trying to put the thought aside for now, Senel focused on talking to Creamy. "You must have spent more time with Moses than I thought." The Galf exhaled hotly in Senel's ear and he laughed once, then realized he was just about at Shirley's house. Silently thankful that the moon was so bright Senel approached her door, quickly lifted a hand and knocked a few times. Even though the situation was urgent he hoped Shirley wouldn't be too mad for waking her up this late. While he waited to see if he should knock again, he thought about how Creamy had gotten up here. The elevator had been at the bottom, but obviously now it wasn't, unless the Galf could jump hundreds of feet into the air. If the Galf had figured out how to make it go to the top, even though she'd only seen the controls once, then she was a lot smarter than everyone had thought—which was still pretty smart. But why would she use the elevator at all? Senel already knew that—something had forced her to us it, and the Iron Eren had a feeling he knew who it was.

Not Giet, but that blue Galf that had stirred up trouble the first time Creamy had visited The Quiet Lands. A minute or so had gone by and no sound of footsteps coming to the door had reached Senel's ears, so he knocked again, a little louder, and more urgently. Ten or so seconds went by, and then he heard footsteps lightly thudding against the stairs, and soon enough Senel heard a voice beyond the door: "Who is it and why are you here this late?"

"Shirley, it's me!" He said urgently. "Open up! I need some help."

"Senel?" The door opened quickly and Shirley jumped when she saw him standing there with a Galf on his back, but she relaxed a bit when she saw that he wasn't injured. Then her expression became concerned again when she saw the dark spots on the Galf's fur. "Oh, no….Senel, what happened?" The white-haired young adult followed Shirley when she rushed to a couch and beckoned to him. He darted inside, but tried not to jar Creamy too much and aggravate her injuries, and set her gently down on the couch so her head was supported by the armrest. Then he turned swiftly towards the door again. "Where are you going?" Shirley exclaimed, looking up from the Galf, who she had begun to administer Healing Eres to. Senel paused briefly at the door and turned.

"I have to go check something out. Take care of her, please. I'll be right back and then I'll explain." Shirley frowned worriedly but nodded and focused her attention on Creamy again, who was slowly wagging her tail in gratitude. Senel allowed himself a quick smile at the both of them before he closed the door behind him and ran down the streets of Werites Beacon to the Lighthouse. He wasted no time in getting there and soon had reached the huge doors where the elevator lay just beyond. But a dark shape crouching just in front of the doors made Senel halt abruptly and raise his fists defensively as he tensed his muscles, ready to fight. The streetlights had turned off for the night so it was hard to tell what the figure was.

Senel tensed more as the shape rose up slightly. A growl reached the Eren's ears as something white flashed. Senel's eyes flew wide as the shape lunged at him and he twisted skillfully out of the way but felt a shallow scrape stinging on his arm. _Great,_ he thought. Whatever had attacked Creamy was now attacking him. But the young adult turned sharply to face the creature's charge and dodged again as it lunged for him. Just as it passed Senel turned quickly and moved his arm through the air in an arc, sending a Demon Fist shockwave across the ground. A yelp came from the creature as the attack connected, but it seemed to have just made it angry, for it lunged for the Iron Eren again. As Senel readied to use Demon Shadow, something sliced through the air close to Senel's face. A pain-filled howl rent the air, and the creature thudded to the ground and didn't move. Senel backed away from the creature and moved off to the side, not turning his back, and saw someone emerging from the shadows. Whoever it was had a glowing lantern.

"Who's there?" He asked firmly, his guard not relaxed.

"Moses," a voice replied, and Senel relaxed marginally. "What're ya _doing_ here? It's a good thing I heard a commotion, or else that Galf woulda had you."

"A Galf?" Senel asked, and as Moses walked closer to the creature's body, and then Senel could see that it was a dirty brown Galf with a spear in its throat. "How'd you—" He began, but Moses interrupted him.

"I know what Galves howling sounds like. And I knew it wasn't Giet. He sounded different." Moses tugged the spear free with a quick jerk and wiped it on the grass nearby, then sighed as he stowed it back in a round container on his back. "This Galf was wild, but not like what was happening to Giet. Some Galves get sick and don't know what they're doin', even less than Giet did, and there's no chance of them comin' back to their senses." Senel was suddenly alarmed and he rushed Moses, gripping his shoulders. Moses was momentarily speechless by the amount of desperation and fear in his friend's eyes.

"Can Galves that are sick like that give it to other Galves? If they attack another Galf, can that Galf get sick?" He demanded, and Moses tried to calm Senel down.

"Well….if you get to the other Galf quick enough you can heal 'em….but sometimes even that doesn't work," he said, then frowned and asked, "Why?" Senel let go of Moses and sprinted off, leaving the beast tamer to follow after he used a spear to push the Galf's body behind a bush. He'd come back shortly and carefully bury the body in a deep hole, far away from Falling Water or any other water source in or around Werites Beacon, and make sure that it wouldn't be discovered and dug up by monsters or anyone else. Now he had to see what Senel was so concerned about.

"Shirley!" Senel yelled, bursting into her house, and stopped when he saw that she was still kneeling beside the couch, administering hot water and soap to Creamy's wounds by dabbing and gently rubbing them with a washrag. Once she knew they wouldn't be in danger of getting infected, she would start using her Healing Eres. Moses gave a startled exclamation when he saw the Galf.

"Creamy came back?" Senel nodded.

"She got attacked—by that Galf that attacked me I think. And she seems to have used the elevator to come up here and get away from him. I was going to check it, but with everything that happened, I forgot. I need to go back now. If that Galf followed Creamy up, then others could, and Werites Beacon would be in danger." Moses stopped Senel by holding up a hand and firmly grasping his shoulder when he tried to run off.

"I'll go and check—I gotta do something back there, anyway. I'll check the elevator, then come back once I'm done. Alright? Stay here with Shirley and Creamy." Reluctantly, Senel nodded, then felt his left arm stinging and looked at it. Blood was streaming slowly from the wound and it was hurting and looking irritated. He felt a sudden pulse of unease and Shirley gasped, already having noticed it.

"Senel….how did that happen?" She asked fearfully, walking over to him. Moses saw his friend's arm and the look on his face made Senel even more uneasy.

"If the Galf did that to you, Senel, you better get on over to the hospital now." Shirley's hands flew to her mouth. "The sickness it had can spread to people, and it can make them really sick, too." Senel clenched his jaw; he should have been more careful, and now—

"Can I get rid of it? The disease?" Moses nodded after a pause.

"If you get to a doctor quick enough and get it cleaned. Let's go now." Senel looked outside; by observing a grandfather clock Shirley had it seemed he had woken up an hour earlier, at six O'clock, and now it had just turned seven. "You take him, Shirley, and I'll head over to Will's house to ask for help to watch Creamy."

"What about Harriet?" Shirley asked as they left her house. But then she answered the question on her own. "I'll go to his house and watch over her. If she wakes up, I can tell her that Will just had to go to something but he'll be back." Moses nodded distractedly, judging the distance they had walked; the three were halfway to the hospital.

"Thanks Shirley," Senel said awkwardly, "and Moses." He was feeling bad for making them worry like this. Sometimes things just happened, even if you were prepared, but….still, things had gone so suddenly out of control that he couldn't help feeling responsible for it. He didn't speak or show this, however, since it wouldn't help anything.

"How are you feeling, Senel? Do you feel like you have a fever, or tired?" Moses hoped to Nerifies that he did not; if symptoms showed up for this disease, then that usually meant it was too late, even if they went to a doctor. Relief melted through him when Senel shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. It just hurts a little," the Iron Eren replied, shrugging. "But it's not bad." Moses bit his tongue as they entered the hospital. The three were relieved to see it open, though knew that a hospital would open early and close late since emergencies could happen anytime. A man at the desk looked up when they walked in and addressed them politely, seeing that none of them seemed to be in serious distress, though he did observe that they had a sense of urgency.

"May I help you? Is anything the matter?" Moses decided to be the spokesperson.

"Yes, my friend needs to see the doctor. He got attacked by an animal that had a disease…" Moses knew the name and spoke it as it came to mind. "Rabies." The man looked startled and left the counter to look at Senel's arm, for he could see under the lights that it was still bleeding slightly.

"Did you get bitten or scratched?" He asked in a no-nonsense voice. Senel thought back to the moment and remembered in an instant; he'd seen the flash of white teeth that had moments later slashed across his arm.

"Bitten," he replied. "Well, its teeth scratched me." The man nodded and led the trio up the stairs.

"How long ago did that happen?"

"Um…maybe thirty minutes?" Senel guessed, and the man relaxed but didn't slow down and soon he'd taken them to an open door; beyond it, Senel saw the white of an examining room and felt a slight tremor of nervousness. It was odd, really, considering everything else he'd been through. Plus, a hospital was for recovery, but most people got the shakes when they had to visit one.

"I'm glad you didn't wait too long to come here. Please, go inside. I'll go get the doctor." Senel, Moses, and Shirley nodded gratefully as the man hurried off downstairs. Shirley and Moses watched their friend lift himself up onto the examining table, which had a sheet of white paper covering it.

"So, about this rabies….how did you know the Galf had it?" Senel asked curiously. Moses lifted his head; he'd been staring at the floor.

"Oh," he said, "well, like I said, Galves that've gone wild and Galves with the disease act different. They're both unpredictable, but Galves with rabies usually stagger around, act like they're choking, or—later on—have foamy stuff on their mouths. Their behavior changes. Not that we would know, but if a Galf had a calm personality, it may turn aggressive if it has rabies." Senel nodded slowly.

"I see…" he said, then looked at Shirley, who was staring fearfully at him. She looked to be on the verge of tears. He smiled reassuringly at her. "It's going to be fine. We got here early enough for them to help." She nodded, but still looked afraid. Moses headed for the door.

"I'm gonna go see Will and tell him what's going on. He'll know how to take care of Creamy. We'll make sure she doesn't get sick either, so everything's gonna be alright, Shirley. Trust me." He grinned at Shirley, and she managed a faint smile, and then the beast tamer left. A few minutes later the doctor came in with a tray. On it was a cup, tweezers, two basins of water and a washrag dipped into both basins. Senel noticed that the water was steaming hot and that a couple bars of soap were near the basins. The doctor gestured for Senel to come over to the sink, so he jumped from the examination table and approached the doctor.

"Had a run-in, did we?" Senel sighed and nodded. "Well, it's good you came here right away. If you do, then rabies isn't fatal. Let me see your arm. Has it been bleeding?" Senel nodded. "Good; that helps it get cleaned a bit but we're going to do more of that now." The doctor lifted a basin of water and looked at Senel. "I'm sorry; I have to disinfect the wound, and this water is very hot. It'll hurt, so brace yourself, but it's preferable to the disease progressing."

"Alright," Senel said, and tensed himself for the burning the water would cause. The doctor nodded and tilted the basin of steaming water over Senel's arm and he squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced, his whole body going tense. He wanted to yank his arm away but forced himself to keep it still, though it was one of the hardest things he'd done. He could imagine his skin blistering because of the hot water….he suddenly heard a clank. He opened his eyes; the doctor had set the basin down and was now rubbing the soap into a washrag that was wet. Senel braced himself but it wasn't as bad this time though he still winced; the doctor scrubbed the wound gently with soap and water and then rinsed it out with water. When the basins were empty, the doctor kept washing Senel's arm with hot water from the sink and rubbed it gently with soap. He did this for around five minutes, then washed his hands, dried them, and got the tweezers from the tray and examined Senel's arm for any leftover debris. He didn't find any after searching painstakingly for a bit, and then he washed Senel's arm again. He sponged it dry and put antiseptic on it, then wrapped it firmly with a clean strip of bandage.

"Well, there you go," the doctor said with finality about twenty minutes after starting to treat Senel. He washed his hands and dried them. "I think we'll keep you here for a day or two so we can make sure the wound doesn't get infected. At this point, I think you're pretty safe, but it's best to keep you here so we can make sure you don't get sick." The doctor gestured out of the room. Shirley and Senel followed the doctor to a room with an empty bed in it. "I suggest you go back to bed now and get some rest. I'll get some food taken to your room later after you've had a rest."

"Thank you," Senel said, yawning. He never was up this early, usually. He was tired, but worried about Creamy. He looked towards Shirley but before he could say anything she gave an understanding nod.

"I'll go back home and check on her. Will and Moses are probably there by now. I'll come back later and visit you, alright?" Senel gave her a soft smile.

"That's great. Thank you." Shirley nodded, truly cheerful for the first time since everything had happened with Creamy and Senel.

"Yep! I'll see you later. Get well soon," she called, waved, and left. The doctor, before leaving, stuck a thermometer in Senel's mouth, felt his pulse, checked his breathing, and asked him if he had any problems like a fever or fatigue, like Moses had done earlier. Senel said no again; he just felt tired like he always did when he was up too early. Satisfied, the doctor left and told Senel again to rest, and turned off the lamp. Settling down under the covers, Senel yawned once and was asleep in minutes.

An hour or so later, Chloe woke up, got dressed and brushed her hair, teeth, and washed her face. She was heading down the hall, with going to the bakery for breakfast in mind, when she stopped in front of a room whose door was open. She was puzzled, for this room had been unoccupied and she was used to no one being in it when she walked by. The door was usually shut, too, but now it was open as if someone was in it that needed to be watched over. Looking in and trying to be quiet, Chloe's eyes widened. She recognized that bunch of white hair anywhere. Senel was lying in a bed, fast asleep and snoring quietly. She almost yelled in alarm, asking what he was doing here and what had happened, but she bit her tongue just in time. He was sleeping pretty soundly, not surprising since he never was up around nine, but there was something else. He seemed a little worn out. Whatever had made him like that was obviously the reason he was in here…and he was here early so he'd probably woken up early, something rare for him. Senel shifted in bed abruptly, and his left arm slid out from under the covers and his hand dangled over the edge of the bed slightly. She spotted white bandages against his medium tan skin. As she watched him sleep, looking so peaceful, she felt an unexpected rush of affection. She didn't think of that feeling being unusual until something flitted across her mind. _He's so….sweet._ Then she felt her face warming instantly as it turned red. _Sweet? WHAT? Where did…that come from? Why did….when…._ Her thoughts raced and she stood rooted in panic for a moment. Then she shook her head. _Ignore it, it's just because I got up and I'm drowsy. I'm becoming like Senel….like Coolidge. That didn't mean anything. And I'm hungry, too. I didn't eat much last night. Get going to the bakery, Chloe, and get a hold of yourself. That didn't mean anything. When I get back I'll ask the doctor why he's here, or maybe one of the others knows….. _Her thought still racing at a mile a minute, Chloe sped out of the hospital and down the streets to the bakery.

**Uh-huh….just keep telling yourself that, Chloe…. :P**

**Well, nowadays for rabies, you get the treatment Senel did and five vaccinations over a five-day period. I didn't know if the rabies vaccination existed then…so I just banked on faith that the disinfecting of Senel's arm would work. I read that it is true you'll be alright if you go to the doctor, have them clean the bite or scratch, and before symptoms show up and you get help you're pretty much home free. The "****the virus is easily destroyed when exposed to sunlight (Rabies is a vampire virus, omg) or when boiled****" before symptoms show up it's easy to get rid of the virus. You don't need a vaccine if the dog that bit you doesn't show signs of rabies. Since the Galf in the story did, though….you need the vaccine to be A-OK but again…I didn't know if it existed in Legendia. I guess I could have just pushed current medical process back and put it in anyway regardless of time period (since no time period is really specified in the Tales universe), but I planned to have Senel survive, vaccine or no. As for Creamy, I read that a few dogs have survived the virus after getting bit, but it is rare. But I'm also having Creamy get better because well…I want to and she's resilient ^^ Hope the medical inaccuracies didn't bug too many people if you're Vet Techs/Vets! And I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I noticed people have still been putting the story on alerts. Thank you, even though I haven't updated in so long! Hope you liked the chapter and I haven't given up writing it! I just was a bit busy. Well, bye for now! :) I almost wrote 'Buy for now'. XD The more Japanese I learn, the more English I lose!**


	10. Not Goodbye, Not Yet

Author's Note: Hello again! I am still writing this, it's just more slowly than my D-Gray Man Fanfiction. Hope that doesn't bug anyone. But it's the summer and I'm getting back into writing it, so no worries. I like writing these stories, and I like that I can 'tell time' by them. For instance, I started this story and my D-Gray Man Fanfiction sometime in 2008, and I'm glad I'm still working on them.

I don't own the Tales of series, the Tales of Legendia game, or the characters except Creamy but then again I didn't make up Galves. But anyway, I hope you enjoy reading! :)

Chapter 10

Chloe sighed, the bagel in her hand getting colder and harder as it went ignored. Although seeing the normal daily activities of people walking through the fountain plaza in Werites Beacon usually cheered her up, today it wasn't. It should have been, though, because she and her friends had made sure things became peaceful again and people seemed happier and more carefree. Isabella, Curtis, and the Oresoren that had joined their group were as happy as anyone that things were peaceful, but they seemed to be a little bored, since there was hardly any trouble in town (and Senel wasn't the type to purposely stir up trouble anymore). Will's roles nowadays consisted only of the town historian and Harriet's father, since there wasn't a need for him to enforce his role as 'sheriff'. He didn't seem to mind, and didn't seem to be running out of things to do.

The female knight was worried about Senel, but something was keeping her away from going to check on him. She knew what it was, but was trying to forget about it. If she let the memory get too close, then she would probably turn red again and cover her face in embarrassed confusion. Looking up, Chloe noticed that it was probably close to noon now. She could probably go and check on Senel if she wanted to, because usually he was up around this time. Usually. If people let him, sometimes he slept until one o'clock. Senel often stayed up late fighting monsters or helping out around Werites Beacon, though, so no one could say that he was just being lazy. _I better eat this, _Chloe thought, remembering she'd picked out a cream cheese bagel from the bakery for breakfast….an hour ago. She hadn't eaten it yet because she'd been lost in her thoughts. Still staring at the sky, Chloe lifted her right hand to her mouth and bit, but was startled to discover she had just bitten air. Her hand was empty, but she'd felt the bagel in it moments before. Where had it gone? Glancing around, then finally down, the knight got her answer. A creamy furred Galf was lying on the ground, holding the bagel between her paws as she munched it happily. Her eyes were trained on Chloe, though, as if she was saying, _Were you going to eat that?_

"Creamy?" Chloe exclaimed shrilly, jumping up from where she'd been sitting on the fountain in the plaza. "What are you—_how _are you here? You were in the Quiet Lands, weren't you…?" Glancing up, Chloe saw that the people walking through the fountain plaza had stopped chatting and going about their daily business. An empty space had formed in the crowd that had been there before, suggesting that Creamy had just started barging through them in order to reach Chloe. The startled people had either been bumped out of the way or had moved on their own. There were few who didn't remember the series of attacks by Galves on the people of Werites Beacon. Even though Creamy was only contentedly enjoying Chloe's breakfast, the townspeople didn't look too happy to see her.

"Is that a Galf?" Someone asked, and in response someone else nodded and looked anxious.

"Yeah….it is. But didn't they all leave a while ago?"

"Why is this one here? He doesn't look dangerous."

Creamy's ears flicked.

"But neither did Giet."

_Uh-oh, _Chloe thought. The Bantam Bouncers usually showed up within minutes whenever trouble started. This situation counted as trouble, since the townspeople were getting agitated, and Chloe only had one minute left before the situation went infinitely beyond her control. Thinking fast, she discreetly but swiftly reached into the small cloth bag that was sitting on the edge of the fountain and picked another bagel out of it, then got the bag and put it around her arm. This bagel Chloe had meant to take to Senel, but she'd never gotten around to going anywhere before the Galf had showed up. Creamy, meanwhile, had finished the bagel Chloe had wanted to eat and was gazing at the knight expectantly. In a quick motion Chloe tossed half of the bagel out of the square into the street of Werites Beacon and took off after Creamy when the Galf turned and darted away. "Don't worry, everyone, I'll catch her and take her away from here! No need to follow me!" Hoping they wouldn't, Chloe ran as fast as she could after Creamy and soon found the Galf sitting placidly on a street corner, licking her lips. The knight hurried up to Creamy and held up the bagel; the Galf raised a paw and Chloe half-smiled, then gave the rest of the bagel to her.

Glancing over her shoulder, the knight realized that no one seemed to be following her, and the Bantam Bouncers were nowhere in sight. She gave a sigh of relief, then gave more attention to her surroundings. She was in front of Shirley's house, and the front door was open. Shaking her head, Chloe asked, "Does anyone else know you're here?" The Galf finished chewing the bagel and wagged her tail, then turned her head towards Shirley's front door. "Shirley does? So you're staying in her house?" Suddenly the knight noticed that Creamy had bandages across her body, like she'd fought with something. They'd been hard to notice because they'd blended in with her fur. Chloe gave her a quick hug around the neck. "You're so cute. But what will you do if you made someone worry? And you shouldn't just wander around on your own…" Creamy tilted her head to the side; Chloe's eyes widened. She had never done that before, and it was adorable. Reaching a hand out Chloe began scratching Creamy between the ears, and when she saw that the Galf was enjoying the treatment, she lifted both hands and began scratching the sides of her head. Then she let her hands drop; Creamy whined imploringly and gazed straight at Chloe while letting her ears wilt a little. "No, Creamy. I have to find out what's going on and what happened to you." Rising to her feet Chloe walked to Shirley's front door, looked inside to see if Shirley was just leaving the door open to cool her house out. But after looking around and calling out once, she decided that Shirley wasn't home, and pulled the front door shut. "Come on, Creamy. Let's go find Shirley." The Galf tilted her head as she looked up at Chloe's face. "You know where she is? Shirley?" With a sharp bark Creamy took off up the street and Chloe ran after her as fast as she could. Soon she noticed that she was being led to the hospital.

"Wait a minute—" she panted, but abruptly cut herself off. Senel was at the hospital; Shirley was probably visiting him. Creamy had been hurt somehow, so Shirley had left her at home, but the Galf had gotten out of the house on her own. She knew how to open doors, Chloe remembered. But even if the Galf hadn't been hurt, the hospital staff probably wouldn't appreciate it Shirley took her inside. Creamy dug her paws into the ground and skidded to a stop, and Chloe jumped around her to avoid a collision. "I'm going to go inside and see if Shirley's there," she told Creamy. "You wait…." Chloe glanced around and saw some bushes in front of the hospital. "….behind those. Got it?" Slowly, looking almost grumpy, Creamy padded towards the bushes and sat down behind them, then lay down and gave an annoyed grunt. "I'll be back really soon, I promise." Creamy sighed and laid her head on her paws, and Chloe ran inside the hospital and explained to the desk she was going to see Senel, and they pointed her up the stairs but the knight remembered where he was from yesterday. She slowed to a walk in the hallway outside his room and peeked inside. Shirley was sitting on the bed opposite the one Senel was in. He was sitting up, facing her, and talking. Shirley's eyes brightened when she saw Chloe appear at the door, and she waved.

"Chloe!" Trying not to look uncomfortable, the knight walked inside and stood by Senel's bedside table. He turned around and gave her a friendly nod, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"Hello, you guys. I uh….knew you were here, so I thought I'd come see you. Are you feeling better? Uh…why are you here, anyway?" Senel and Shirley exchanged glances; Senel looked back towards Chloe and scratched his head.

"You haven't heard yet," he said, but Chloe spoke before he had a chance to continue.

"Does it have something to do with Creamy?" She asked, and saw Senel's pale blue eyes widen. Shirley looked surprised as well.

"How'd you know it had anything to do with her?" He asked.

"Well, she just came up to me in the fountain plaza, and when I approached her, she led me to the hospital." She decided not to say that she had seen Senel last night, and been avoiding coming to visit him today when Creamy had showed up. "There were a lot of people there, but I don't think anyone followed me. I told them that I'd take care of it, so hopefully….well, anyway….go ahead." Chloe put her hands behind her back so that Shirley and Senel wouldn't see her wringing them nervously.

"We're still trying to figure out what happened, but Creamy came back up to Werites Beacon using the elevator last night. Another Galf seems to have followed her and attacked her. She came to my house and I took her to Shirley, then went to see how she got her, but the Galf that attacked her attacked me." Chloe stiffened. Senel noticed this and shook his head reassuringly. "It wasn't bad; just a scratch."

"Why are you still here, then?" Chloe demanded.

"Well….." Senel hesitated, then just came out with it. "The Galf that attacked us was sick. Creamy's fine, and so am I, but just in case the doctor wants me to stay here today and tomorrow."

"I've…." Chloe crossed her arms. "I've heard of that disease some monsters can have. It's….rabies." Her arms fell to her sides in shock. "There's no cure, Senel!" In her slight panic Chloe didn't realize she'd called the Iron Eren by his first name; because the knight was obviously very upset, Senel or Shirley began focusing on trying to calm her down, and so wouldn't realize her slip-up until later.

"Chloe, please…try to calm down for a moment," Shirley said softly, and Senel nodded reassuringly.

"I guarantee that Creamy and I are going to be fine. The doctor said that since we both got medical attention early enough that we won't get the disease. They just wanted to be sure with me."

"If Creamy has it, then what?" She asked.

"Shirley's taking care of her. She's going to be fine too." Senel looked at his hands, then back up at Chloe. "You said that Creamy led you here? Is she outside?" Chloe nodded.

"Yes." Senel swung his legs over the bed and stood. Shirley followed as he left the room, and Chloe exited after them.

"The doctor said I can get up and walk around if I want, as long as I come back." Behind Senel's back, Shirley and Chloe exchanged smiles. "There's really nothing wrong with me. And I've gotten up from worse." The three friends headed down the stairs, past the front desk, and then out the door. Chloe walked over to the bush where she'd left Creamy and felt immensely relieved when she saw the Galf still lying there. Senel, with only the faintest hint of hesitation at first, moved towards Creamy and held out his arms. The Galf lifted her head, got to all four paws, and trotted forward. Senel's hands went to the sides of her head and began scratching behind her ears. "Not that I'm not glad you're here, but how did you get back, if Moses and I left the elevator at the top?" Creamy's tail flicked once and she licked Senel's face.

"Maybe she got it to go back down?" Chloe suggested. "There were controls at the bottom, too….or maybe the elevator broke for a while and fell back down." Chloe shrugged her shoulders, as confused as Senel sounded. Creamy was a smart Galf, but she really didn't have any idea how she had gotten back up from the Quiet Lands. Shirley touched Chloe's shoulder and they looked at each other.

"Moses came to the hospital a while before Senel woke up and told me he was going to check the elevator. He said he'd come tell me what he found, and he should be back pretty soon…." Shirley trailed off as she heard running footsteps approaching and the trio looked to see Jay running up to them.

"Moses went to The Quiet Lands to see what was going on and…" He barely took a moment to catch his breath before continuing urgently, his expression agitated. "There's been a fight down there. For some reason the Galves started fighting, but even after that blue Galf left, they haven't stopped." Senel, Chloe, and Shirley's eyes widened in alarm and Senel stood sharply.

"We need to go help, now! Is Moses still down there?"

"He came back up to tell me this and told me to come tell you." Jay glanced sharply at Senel, and the Iron Eren had a feeling about what he was going to say. Before he could get a protest out the ninja cut him off. "Senel, you should stay here with Creamy."

"Are you serious?" Senel yelled.

"Yes!" Jay snapped. "You're supposed to stay here. I know—you told me you're not hurt too badly, and neither is Creamy. But that _doesn't_ need to change. If you are sick, then running around and fighting won't make you get better." He looked at Chloe. "I'm going back."

"I'm coming too." Chloe gripped her sword and took off.

"Wait!" Shirley called. Jay and Chloe turned and instinctively lifted their hands to catch some objects that she had thrown to them. They were Lemon, Mélange, and Pineapple Gels. "Be careful," she said, her fists clenched and her forehead pursed in worry.

"It'll be fine," Jay said calmly. "And, Senel….we're just going to check on things down there. And I'm sure Moses is fine." The ninja sped off with nimble ease, and Chloe looked anxiously at Senel and Shirley, then waved once before taking off after him. Senel ground his teeth furiously. He'd been told to stay behind, just like that time when Chloe and Will had refused his request to come along and look for Shirley. He'd changed a lot since then, he understood their reasoning, but even so, this new situation was still maddening. Shirley touched Senel's shoulder and he took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out. Creamy nudged his arm and licked his hand, wagging her tail slowly.

Jay and Chloe grimly observed the elevator's control panel as they went down. There were dim red paw prints on the panel and the platform they were standing on. "If it was at the top, how did Creamy get up here?" The knight puzzled, her heart squeezing in sympathy for the Galf. Jay crossed his arms in thought.

"There's a control system at the bottom, too. Maybe she had learned from Moses and Senel by watching how they did it, and somehow operated it down there. She's done that in the past."

"Right," Chloe recalled. "The doors."

"She wanted to get to safety, but that Galf followed her." Jay fell silent for a moment. "If that Galf attacked anyone else….then there may be nothing we can do." Chloe glanced quickly at Jay, but knew in her heart that he was right. She heard the ninja mutter under his breath, "Go faster." She knew that he was concerned about Moses; she was too, and knew Shirley and Senel were. Creamy had seemed agitated, too. Finally the elevator reached the bottom and stopped with a lurch. Jay and Chloe leapt from the platform and stopped abruptly. The bodies of three Galves were lying off to the side of the elevator. The two friends avoided them and kept going. After exploring the Calm Lands for what felt like too long they spotted Moses's profile. He was standing in front of a red Galf. Giet's pack was gathered behind him, and aside from looking ruffled, they seemed to be fine.

"Moses!" Chloe couldn't help calling, and the bandit turned his head. "Is everything alright? What happened?" Jay saw that Moses appeared to be very stressed; he looked tired and on edge.

"It looks like the blue Galf that attacked Creamy bit a few other Galves in the pack and they got the disease, too, but Giet managed to keep them away from the rest of the pack and then killed them. I got the last one when I got down here."

"Are Giet and the others going to be alright?" Jay asked. Moses nodded.

"I think so. Giet gave the go-ahead, so I checked all of them. None of them had any bite or scratch marks, and they haven't had any signs of strange behavior, so they're alright. How's Creamy?"

"Fine, but Senel was upset that we made him stay up there with Creamy. She's fine too, by the way," Chloe explained, her concern flooding away as it was replaced by assurance that everything was fine now.

"Hang on a sec," Moses interrupted, "_who_ was upset?" Jay frowned, but it was the type of frown that was holding a smile at bay. Chloe lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Coolidge. He was worried about you, and Shirley, too." She narrowed her eyes at Moses's gleeful expression. "Why is that funny? If everything's alright, we should be getting back."

"You mean you really didn't notice that you called Senel….._Senel_?" Chloe looked dumbfounded.

"Huh? I didn't, I called him Coolidge. That's what I usually call him…."

_Not so much anymore…._Jay thought with a slight smirk. "Well, Chloe's right. Let's get back." He looked over at Giet. "We'll bring Creamy back soon. She needs to rest."

"Understand, Giet? She'll be back in probably a few days." The red Galf barked once and wagged his tail, then nudged Moses's hand and nibbled it affectionately. Moses patted Giet then turned quickly and began to walk off. After a moment's pause Chloe and Jay followed him and they reached the elevator without looking back at Giet again.

_A few days, _Jay thought as the elevator went up. _Unfortunately that won't be enough time._


	11. Confess

**~Foreward~**

**Me: House finches, hawks, magpies…**

**Jay: …..?**

**Me: Oh. I'm just documenting the birds that live by my house.**

**Jay: How nice.**

**Me: Yep! Owls, bluebirds….**

**Moses: Our turn to say it this time. She doesn't own the story or characters, except Creamy; she doesn't own the names either….or the places….**

**Norma: What does that mean, even?**

**Moses: Dunno….I'm just saying the stuff she says…**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 11 - Confess**

Senel was sitting on the steps leading up to the hospital. Shirley had sat with him for a while and they'd talked and played with Creamy before Shirley said she had to go home and get some work done. It was a day off from work but she had to get some food and do some laundry. After they'd told each other goodbye for now Senel had made a mental note to do his laundry when he got home. It wasn't too much—just his socks, underwear, and a few pairs of his shirts and paints, but he'd let it pile up recently. When Senel got home, he'd start on it, but for now he was just sitting with Creamy, occasionally talking to her, but mostly just patting her head and stroking her behind the ears, while they waited for Jay, Moses, and Chloe to come back. Senel would pay attention to see if she minded that he was patting her so much, but she wasn't giving any indications. He talked to her about how Chloe might stop calling him by his last name soon, and how she'd already called Moses by his first name seemingly without realizing it. Something had started to make her open up a little. After all of their adventures had ended, everyone had become a little more relaxed. Not so relaxed that they wouldn't be ready to deal with anything that happened, but they were starting to go through their lives with a little more enjoyment. The immediate danger door had closed which seemed to be having a positive effect on everyone. Even though there was the trouble with the Galves, that wasn't much compared to everything they'd been through, but like those times Senel had no doubt they could get through it.

"Maybe she was calling me that in her head, and then she just started to call me it out loud." Creamy yawned and wagged her tail, and Senel looked thoughtful. "I bet she calls me lots of things in her head, though, and I'd have no idea." The Galf gave a little snort and high-pitched whine that Senel smiled at; it had sounded like 'Ah wow'. "Are you bored?" She made another similar whine. "You're weird." This time the whine seemed annoyed. Senel laughed and Creamy stared at him. "Just kidding." The Galf snorted and twitched her ears. "I'm sorry. You're very nice and smart." Creamy put her ears slightly forward, then opened her mouth and gave a low, but long howl. "Hope that meant something good," Senel laughed again and rubbed Creamy's head gently, then stood up and turned around. "I want to wait for everyone to come back, but I better go tell the doctor, or else he'll think I made a break for it," the Iron Eren chuckled. "Not a bad idea, though." Creamy nudged Senel's arm and jumped a little, her tail wagging. They were about to go inside when an eager voice stopped them.

"Senel! Creamy!" Harriet cried, and when Senel turned to meet her, the girl jumped at him and looped her arms around his neck. "Are you better?" Harriet glanced down at the Galf. "You didn't tell me Creamy came back!" She exclaimed indignantly, but looked happy instead of upset.

"Everything happened suddenly, Harriet," Senel explained, balancing while holding the girl under her arms. "I didn't know she was going to come back."

"Ohhh," Harriet said as Senel set her back on the ground. "She's going to stay in Werites Beacon from now on, right?" The need for an explanation was eliminated when Will walked up the steps and ruffled Harriet's hair. She giggled softly and looked up at him.

"We're still not sure how things are going to go. We need to wait until we know."

"Alright." Harriet nodded and smiled at Will, then at Senel and Creamy. Her smile faltered a little but stayed in place. "You both got hurt? Are you feeling okay now?"

"We're fine," Senel replied. "Shirley took care of Creamy and I just went to the doctor. Everything's going to be alright." Harriet nodded, satisfied.

"Good," she said determinedly. "Everyone was worried. Where's Jay, Chloe, Moses, and Norma? We should have a picnic together again."

"They're, well…they're busy now, but should be back pretty soon," Senel responded vaguely, rubbing his head. Will picked up on his friend's body language and changed the subject.

"We'll probably have a picnic tomorrow, Harriet. We'd need to tell everyone and plan, and make food to take." Senel mouthed "Thanks", and then "Later". Will nodded and Harriet was crossing her arms with a preoccupied look on her face and had missed the exchange.

"I'm better at making things now, Senel. I just made some cookies with my dad. We put blue frosting on them."

"Nice…they sound good. If we go for a picnic tomorrow we can have them then." Senel hoped the cookies would be better than she usually made them; she was getting a little better now that she was thinking about things like recipe and what amounts of ingredients to use. Ever since Senel had broken the ice, Will seemed more comfortable with helping Harriet learn how to follow recipes.

"Would you want to eat some of the cookies I make tomorrow?" Harriet was asking Creamy. The Galf tilted her head. "I know you'd like them. Or some sandwiches?" Creamy tilted her head again and Harriet laughed, then reached out and patted the Galf behind her ears. "You're cute. Do you want to play?" The girl reached inside the pocket of her dress and pulled out a small wooden ball. "I think you'll like this." Creamy sniffed the ball and after a moment wagged her tail and lifted her ears, staring repeatedly from it to Harriet. "Okay, let's go to my house and play."

"Harriet, maybe we should stay here and play? Senel wouldn't be able to come. He has to stay here for a little longer," Will reminded the girl, and she stopped as she was about to run off.

"Oh, right. Well, there's a yard here too. Can we use that?" Will nodded. The yard was for anyone—family of patients, and recovering patients themselves, to walk around or sit in. It had several plum trees that were pink with blossoms now, a small pond, and benches to sit on. Harriet, Will, Senel, and Creamy went inside and through another door that led to the park area. When Harriet got outside she threw the wooden ball excitedly and Creamy lifted her head, then darted after it and jumped to catch it.

"Nice throw, Harriet," Will said, and the girl beamed.

"And nice catch, Creamy," Senel noted. The Galf trotted back to Harriet and dropped the ball, staring at it and waiting for her to pick it up. She did, and tried to toss it farther this time, but Creamy chased it and quickly retrieved it.

"This is fun," Harriet exclaimed, reaching down to get the ball after she'd thrown it a few more times. But this time Creamy grabbed it before she could. "Hey," the girl pouted, trying to grab it, but the Galf darted away and started chewing on the ball. "Don't eat it!" She called, looking worried.

"Maybe she wants to play tag, or something…" Senel offered, walking over to Harriet, and she looked at him.

"Maybe," she agreed, and called to Creamy. "Come here! You want to play tag?" The Galf perked her ears and padded back over to Harriet and Senel, then dropped the wooden ball and focused her eyes on it. Harriet looked down at it too and pursed her lips in thought.

"Maybe….1….2….3….go!" She shouted, reaching for the ball, but Creamy got it before Harriet could and ran off to the far end of the hospital park. "Aww!"

"Good try, though." Senel grinned. "I think it's her new favorite thing to do…" Creamy curled up and started chewing on the wooden ball again. "Good idea about bringing it. And maybe she won't chew on my shoes anymore." A high-pitched noise suddenly reached everyone's ears, and they looked around. Creamy lifted her head and dropped the ball. She looked interested and her ears were forward, but moving around slightly. The noise came again, closer, and finally the group realized it was meowing.

"Uh…" Harriet muttered nervously, seeing a black and white cat climbing on the back of a nearby bench. "Maybe she'll leave him alone." But the Galf jumped to her feet abruptly and gazed at the cat, who was licking a paw now and not paying attention to anyone. The cat's green eyes stared at Creamy when she started walking over to him, though.

"Uh-oh," Senel groaned quietly, and began slowly approaching the two animals. Creamy got there before him. She and the cat stared at each other, and Creamy leaned forward and sniffed the cat, who hissed and backed away. Creamy growled but also backed away when the cat lifted a paw and swiped at her. Then the feline jumped off of the park bench and began to trot away towards a low wall in the hospital yard. The Galf's tail swished and she began chasing the cat, who looked backward and flattened his ears. He broke into a run and leapt onto the wall, then onto a tree branch, and then a final leap sent it on top of the outer wall of the park area. The cat looked down at Creamy, sniffed, and lowered his tail over the edge of the wall and began swishing it. The Galf growled but the cat didn't seem to care.

"Is that cat teasing her?" Harriet asked, staring, and Will shook his head.

"I can't think of anything else to call it."

"That's a brave cat." After a moment the cat strode away and Creamy barked at it, chasing it as it walked along the wall, but soon gave up and trudged back to Senel, Will, and Harriet. "Almost as smart as you—that's why he got away," Senel chuckled, rubbing Creamy behind her ears. The Galf snorted and growled lightly but her tail was wagging. Harriet patted the Galf's head and then hugged her around the neck.

"It's okay. And don't chase cats anyway. They're cute." Creamy licked Harriet's face and she squealed. "Oh…Creamy, you should brush your teeth…" The Galf lowered her head and exhaled, then nuzzled Harriet under her chin. The girl laughed, then patted Creamy as she growled quietly. "What's wrong?" She asked, watching the animal trot out of the park. Just as Creamy reached the door that led inside they heard voices approaching.

"It sounds like Moses and the others," Will said, and sure enough a moment later, Moses, Chloe, and Jay were walking into the small hospital park. Harriet ran up to them and jumped at Moses, who caught her and twirled Harriet around a few times.

"Hi! Where were you guys?" She laughed.

"Well…we were just out taking care of something. Nothing to worry about." Moses put Harriet down and Chloe smiled at her, then beckoned for her to come to the opposite wall of the park, where a cat was sitting on the lower of the two walls. When they had gone away enough out of earshot Moses began explaining to Senel and Will. Creamy sat next to Senel, staring up at Jay and Moses. Again Jay noticed how calm Creamy was, and again thought that she had to have come from outside Werites Beacon and possibly encountered people before—people that had been good to her over a long period of time, or else she wouldn't have been this tame when Senel had met her. Because of what Moses had experienced with Giet, Jay knew that there was no way a wild animal like a Galf would immediately attach to a person unless they'd spent a lot of time with them already. He wondered if there was a reason she had just gone to Senel's house, though. It could be something as simple as he'd been the only one to leave his door slightly open that night, but there could be a more complicated reason too that would take more time to figure out. Maybe someone with a similar scent had taken care of Creamy before she'd arrived at Werites Beacon, or maybe some animals could just tell when a person was kind and trustworthy. There was no way to tell, really, although Creamy seemed smart enough to find her way back to where she'd lived before and tolerating enough to let someone follow her. But then….besides the Village of the Ferines, there weren't many places for people to live on The Legacy, so maybe she'd come from the Mainland. Maybe even from where Chloe had lived. That would mean that Creamy had had to swim to The Legacy, though. Jay pushed his thoughts aside and listened to what Moses was saying even though he already knew what it would be.

"There had been a fight down in the Quiet Lands. Giet and the other Galves had killed some of the other ones in the pack. Some of the Galves they fought looked like they were sick, but others just seemed to have been on the side of the ones fighting Giet. When we got down there, the pack was staying away from the dead Galves."

"Only a handful of Galves had started trouble," Jay put in, "and according to Moses, only three of them had rabies and gave it to a few other members of the pack. But none of the remaining Galves looked like they'd been hurt, so it's likely they don't have the disease. But before Creamy goes back, we're going to make sure that's still the case." Will and Senel nodded.

"I'm relieved everything's okay…even if it's just for now," Senel sighed. "The next time you go down there, I'm going, whether it's in a day or a week."

"Better we let you come with us," Jay sighed, holding up his arms and shaking his head, "rather than you tailing after us like last time, hmm?" Senel's eyebrows dipped but he grinned.

"So you buried the Galves you found?" Will prompted.

"Yep," Moses replied. "Where they'd be away from the Galves and people." Jay had a sudden impulse to mention what he'd been thinking about before, but just then Chloe and Harriet returned; Harriet was cradling the black-and-white cat from earlier in her arms. When the animal saw Creamy, a hiss escaped from the cat's throat. Senel wondered briefly how he could prevent the Galf from chasing the cat again but to his surprise Creamy began licking the cat's head and the cat tolerated it for a moment before squirming out of Harriet's arms and darting away.

"That's new," Jay observed with his eyebrows raised. Creamy had definitely come in contact with people before, and other animals. She had either come from somewhere on the Legacy, Rexalia, Gadoria, or—Jay's eyes narrowed—the Crusand Empire. Senel looked over at Jay and noticed his expression.

"What is it?" He asked, frowning in concern, causing Jay to look up and shake his head.

"I was just thinking…I was wondering where Creamy could have come from, and also that she probably had come in contact with people before."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked, looking back at Jay; she'd watched the cat run into the hospital and wondered if he belonged to someone inside.

"It takes time for Galves to get used to people, right, Moses?" The bandit nodded. "That's why she was so friendly right from the beginning."

"If she did live with anyone, or ever if she was just in the wild, I wonder why she came into Werites Beacon." Harriet looked up at her father, then at each of her friends' faces. Finally her gaze came to rest on Senel.

"She went to you first, right, Senel?" The Iron Eren nodded after a moment. "Maybe she could smell you." Moses started laughing and Senel gave the bandit a tired stare. "What's so funny? I meant maybe she liked how you smelled." This just made Moses laugh harder, and Harriet turned her gaze on him.

"Do you mean," Jay began, "that she might have known Senel's scent somehow?" Harriet whipped her head towards him and nodded energetically.

"Yeah! That's what I meant! Maybe Senel's family met her first and she wanted to meet him so she came here." Jay blinked, as did the rest of the group. Harriet had her moments of temper tantrums, but usually she was pretty grown-up and perceptive. She'd come to The Legacy on her own to find Will after her mother died.

"My family's not…" Senel began, then sighed. "I don't know, Harriet. I think she could have just been looking for a place to stay. And I don't know how we'd be able to find out."

"We could ask her to take us back to where she'd come from!" Harriet suggested brightly. "She's smart! And it would be fun to meet anyone related to you, Senel." Jay stared and didn't say anything. Chloe and Will crossed their arms, looking awkward. Senel bit the inside of his mouth, then knelt slowly in front of her until they were at eye level.

"Thank you, Harriet, but I don't know if we'd be able to find them. I only knew I had parents, and…well, they aren't around anymore." Harriet gave a little gasp and looked down.

"Oh," she said. "Senel….sorry." The Iron Eren ruffled her hair gently.

"Don't apologize. It's okay." He said it with a smile that didn't look forced or upset. A grin slowly came back to Harriet's face.

"We're all each other's family, anyway," Moses chuckled, leaning down to hook an arm around Senel's neck and then jam a fist into his hair.

"Whoa…." Senel grunted as Moses' weight made him bend forward, then overbalance and fall over. Moses fell to the ground on top of Senel a second later. Harriet managed to hop out of the way just in time.

"Watch out!" She scolded as the two friends picked themselves up, while Will and Chloe laughed.

"Sorry about that. You okay Senel?" Moses asked, rubbing his head sheepishly.

"I should be fine. Nothing's broken," Senel replied, checking himself over. "Since you had to almost crush me at all though, thanks for deciding to when we were already in a hospital and everything."

"No problem." Moses smiled, then looked up at the sky. "It's sunset. The time flew, didn't it? I'm beat. See you guys tomorrow."

"Oh, Moses!" Harriet stopped him. "We're having a picnic tomorrow at Lumen Spring. You coming?"

"Picnic? Count me in!"

"Will you try my cookies again?" Moses hesitated and looked around with a trapped expression. He caught Senel's eye and saw him nod discreetly.

"Yep," Moses said, and Harriet looked pleased. "Well, night, all." Chloe, Will, Harriet, and Senel waved. Before the bandit left he knelt in front of Creamy and patted her on the head, and the Galf licked him across the face. "'Night, sweetie. See you tomorrow too." Creamy barked and wagged her tail as Moses left. Chloe, Will, and Harriet walked with Senel and Creamy into the hospital's reception area and said goodnight.

"Hey, daddy?" Harriet asked in a begging tone as she looked up at Will.

"Yes?" He asked, wondering what she was going to ask for.

"Could Creamy stay at our house tonight, please?" Will looked up at Senel and Chloe, who stared back at him.

"Well…I don't know…."

"Please! Just for tonight!" Will sighed.

"I suppose it's alright….but when we get home, go right to bed." Harriet nodded happily.

"Okay!" Will sighed again, but smiled and waved goodnight to Senel and Chloe. He walked away, watching Harriet skip along with Creamy running beside her, and then just Chloe and Senel remained in the hospital lobby.

"You won't do anything like sneak out, will you?" Chloe asked Senel while she eyed him suspiciously, and her friend gave a slightly exasperated sigh.

"Why does everyone think that I'll sneak out?" He asked irritably, rubbing his head.

"Because you're you," Chloe replied simply with a grin.

"I'm not as hardheaded as before," Senel muttered, frowning. Chloe pretended to think it over.

"Well, you could still run through a wall, but as for the other hardheaded…you've made some good improvements, Senel."

"Just some?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "Speak for yourself, Valens."

"Why'd you call me that all of a sudden?" Chloe demanded, and she scowled when Senel laughed.

"You all call me dense. _Still_. But you haven't even noticed what you've been calling me."

"If it's idiot, I've noticed that, alright," Chloe huffed, to Senel's amusement. "So what have I been calling you then, Senel?" It seemed that Chloe finally noticed because she'd been putting such frustrated emphasis on her words, and her face turned bright pink. "S-Senel….I've b-been…." She moaned, covering her face. "I never noticed…"

"It doesn't matter. I don't mind—no one else does either," the Iron Eren assured her with a friendly smile.

"I mind…." Chloe moaned, and looked away. "Why do you always have to see me when I'm making a fool of myself?" The knight turned sharply and tried to leave, but Senel grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. Chloe hadn't expected Senel to do that, so she was pulled completely towards him and stumbled. Senel put his arms around her when she almost fell and hugged her close without thinking.

"You alright?" He asked, pulling back and looking at her. "You've never made a fool of yourself, Chloe. You always did your best, and if you think you looked stupid because you got lost along the way….then remember what you did when things didn't go your way. You kept moving." Chloe just stared at him, her face still pink, and her mouth slightly open as if she wanted to say something but didn't know what. "Someone who really would have made a fool of themselves would have been someone who'd given up." Chloe pushed against Senel slightly and the two stepped apart, but Senel didn't seem to notice. His blue-grey eyes kept boring into Chloe's brown ones. "If you want someone who's a fool, then it's me." Chloe blushed even more. "I almost gave up on myself plenty of times, but you were the one who snapped me out of it."

"You're wrong! I gave in and you helped me…even when I hurt you," Chloe said, finally breaking eye contact and looking at the ground.

"We've helped each other." Chloe held her breath. "That's what everyone's done for us as friends. We don't help each other only once and that's it." The knight didn't say anything, and Senel wondered if she was going to get upset. Usually he said something wrong and she got mad. But if she did, he didn't mind. He just wanted to help and make her feel better.

"S-….Senel." Chloe spoke a little quickly, trying to get her words out before she could chicken out and change her mind. "You said that…you called everyone else our friends…right?" Senel nodded once and didn't say anything. Seemed like it was better to listen now. "Then….what are we?" After a moment or two, Senel's eyes widened slightly as he got what Chloe meant.

"W-we?" Now Senel's face was turning pink and he looked flustered. He paused, not saying anything, but saw that he wouldn't get out of this. Chloe wanted an answer. Senel took a deep breath. "I care a lot about the others, Chloe. I care a lot about you, but…" Chloe's heart sank a little.

"But….?" She prompted.

"I missed Stella…but I was holding onto her so much that I didn't see what was going on around me. That's why I drove Shirley away without meaning to." Senel had averted his eyes now. "And we lived so long together like siblings…later on we just both agreed…even with the Rite of Feriyen…that that's what we wanted to be. The sea…it might have just been giving us its blessing so that we could carry out whatever choice we wanted." Senel glanced back up at Chloe and saw that she was gazing steadily at him. "Shirley and I weren't just pretending…we really were brother and sister, even if we weren't related by blood."

"You moved on from Stella and Shirley….and now…." Chloe said hesitantly, her heart beating heavily. "I don't want to sound like…like…you're….like I'm…"

"I love _you_," Senel blurted before he could talk himself out of saying it. It didn't matter if Chloe liked him or not. He just wanted to say it since the words had been silently eating at him. "I knew that was how I felt. I guess I was just…" He broke off but Chloe picked up for him.

"Scared?"

"…Probably." Chloe sighed and smiled faintly, her head a little light.

"That's alright. I felt that way too." The knight shook her head. "And it's odd… because we annoyed each other so much when I first met you."

"Opposites attract, huh?" Senel laughed, rubbing his forehead awkwardly. He felt better now that he'd told Chloe, but his face still felt hot and his heart was thumping quickly. Chloe noticed he was breathing a little heavily.

"You alright?" She asked seriously, stepping closer again and looking at his face. "You're not feeling sick, are you?" The knight asked fearfully.

"No. Just tired." Senel turned and began walking up the stairs but stumbled. "The doctor gave me some medicine earlier…he said it was for fighting an infection and that it could make me a little feverish." He looked at his arm. "It's not infected, I know it isn't or else I'd feel worse than this. The doctor gave me the medicine just in case."

"A needle?" Senel shook his head once and yawned.

"Pills. But I would have just had to put up with a needle if he'd used it…" Chloe laughed.

"I'll go get the doctor to check on you, anyway. Let's go to your room and then I'll hurry and go get him," Chloe said in a rush.

"Thanks," Senel yawned, and once they'd climbed the stairs the two went to his room and Senel climbed into his bed. Then Chloe hurried off to get the doctor, her thoughts racing the whole way.

_Get better please…. _Chloe thought, then realized something she'd momentarily forgotten because she'd been worried about Senel. _He said that he loves me…_

_

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_

In the dead of the night, two figures crept through Werites Beacon without making a sound. One was following the other, and after briefly hesitating at the entrance to the town, the duo kept going and stepped from the lamp lit streets into the dark wilderness beyond.

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**Au****thor's Note: THERE! A confession! I'm not good at being romantic….or keeping characters **_**in **_**character once I introduce romance (which isn't very often; I'm more of a friendship-family-oriented person), but well….you guys can decide if they were in character. I know they wouldn't get all lovey-dovey at least.**

**And I bet you can guess a mile away who the two that left town were, but I chose secrecy anyway. And who they are will be revealed in the next chapter anyway so you can see the results of your guess. :)**

**I had a little plot idea and thought that I'd go with it. That **_**might**_** mean I'll introduce some new OC's (but likely just one, and a guy, I've already decided) in the future, but at the moment, I'm just going to go where my ideas take me. Hope those of you reading are still enjoying the chapters! If you're seeing this then you're still reading…and I want to make the story enjoyable. Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays! o=D (Santa hat smiley)**


	12. Shadows

**Me: OK here's the deal. I am still working on this. I don't know how many chapters it's going to end up having, though.**

**Jay: Surely you can't be serious.**

**Me: I am serious, and don't call me Shirley. That's Shirley over there; she's a nice person.**

**Jay: Of course.**

**Shirley: Hehe.**

**Me: Yes, well, on with the story! I don't own the characters or their names except Creamy and that other person I'll properly introduce sometime and will allude to in this chapter… **

**And he'll be a new sort-of main character. You'll see.**

**

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**

**Shadows**

Senel was dreaming, but the things that were happening felt real.

He was running with someone, stumbling and falling at times, and being pulled along by his hand afterward. Then suddenly he and the other person, who was just a shadowy human figure, were surrounded by other shadowy figures. They were people, but instead of sensing a protective spirit like the shadowy person that was holding Senel's hand, these figures gave off an air of malice. They weren't here to help, and they had surrounded Senel and the protective shadowy figure, who was cradling Senel tightly to his—or her, since it was hard to tell—body.

Whoever the figures surrounding Senel and the protective person were, they were tall and imposing, and in the dream Senel felt himself looking away from the ones in front but only seeing more of them over the shoulder of the person holding him. Then for some reason Senel began struggling and pushed the person's arms away, which let him jump to the ground and face the tallest person. The Iron Eren felt his body move on its own; he swung a fist towards the ground and a flash of light streaked across the ground towards the imposing figure.

_It is! _Senel thought, astonished, and he suddenly wasn't seeing things from a first-person perspective anymore. He still saw shadows of people everywhere in the dreamscape, but now it was clear who he was looking at. A very young child with faded brown pants and a blue shirt with a hood that was down. The child's hair was white and spiky. It was very obvious who it was, and Senel was no longer in doubt. _It's me when I first showed my Eren powers! Then is he…_

With that realization, another figure became clear—the one standing directly in front of Senel's past self. Even though it had been a long time since he'd seen him, the memory was still clear. Strong build, red armor, scarred face, brown hair….Vaclav. Senel was staggered. He flicked his gaze back to himself and the person who'd been helping him run, hoping that person would become clear too, but nothing happened. They remained shadowy and unknown. Senel's child self turned and was picked up by the protective person but Vaclav took a step forward, grabbed him and wrenched him from the person's arms. A shadowy figure approached the other person from behind and grabbed his arms, holding him in a grip so strong that he couldn't even struggle. Vaclav handed child Senel, now kicking and screaming and reaching towards the protective shadowy person, to a faceless soldier beside him. Vaclav then strode towards the captured person and stared down briefly before raising his fist and striking the person over the head without hesitation. The person's body slumped and crumpled to the ground when the soldier let go. Child Senel began screaming even louder but no one paid attention. Vaclav shouted something to the shadowy soldiers around him and they all marched off, leaving the fallen person behind them.

"Senel!" The Iron Eren only had time to wearily blink open his eyes before something heavy hit him over the head. He shot upright in bed, rubbing his throbbing head and glancing around in alarm.

"Don't hit him, Teach! We need his help!" A distressed voice cried. "And this isn't his fault!"

"What's the matter?" Senel asked urgently, stepping out of bed and ignoring the bump forming on his aching head for now. "What's going on?"

"Harriet's missing, and so is Creamy!" Norma answered, waving her arms in a panic. "Teach noticed they were gone this morning, and there was a note by his bed." Will shoved the note at Senel, who took it carefully and didn't bother to comment on his friend's sharp behavior. He was obviously just upset, and not really angry at anyone. Senel read the note to himself.

_In the middle of the night Creamy woke me up and when I tried to make her come back to bed, she ran off. I'm going to follow her, but if you wake up to check on me, then I promise I'll be back soon. Don't worry about me because I'll be alright with Creamy._

_~Harriet_

Still a little groggy from sleep, Senel passed the note back to Will, who crumpled it and shoved it into his pocket. "What time is it now?"

"Eight O' clock," Norma replied, wringing her hands nervously. "Will just found out thirty minutes ago and has been rounding everyone up to look for her. Moses is at Falling Water, Jay's at Lumen Spring, Shirley's asking around Werites Beacon, and Chloe's searching around the Lighthouse…." She trailed off; Will had given her a look. Senel understood it.

"You think Creamy could have led her down there?"

"I talked to C just before I came here with Teach and she said she hadn't seen Harriet or Creamy anywhere, but she was going to keep looking." Senel rubbed his head, not just because of Will hitting him, but mostly because of the reality of the situation crashing down on him. If anything happened to Harriet, it would be his responsibility.

"And there are no other signs about where Harriet may have gone?"

"No," Will answered sharply. "And if we don't find her anywhere in Werites Beacon, then it means she's not here."

_Where would she have gone? _Senel allowed himself a second to think. _Did she say anything that hinted she might do this? Something last night? _Then it came to him. Harriet had been talking about going to find Senel's family. _Oh, no….damn it. Because she thought I was upset…._

"I'll help look too."

"The others should almost be done searching. We were going to meet at the fountain when we were all done." Senel sighed.

"Let's ask around there while we wait for them." Will and Norma nodded, and after Senel quickly explained to the doctor where he was going, they hastily walked to the fountain area. About ten minutes after they arrived and began asking the people there if they'd seen Harriet, Chloe, Jay, Shirley, and Moses showed up and walked over to them.

"Did you find her?" The group shook their heads. Shirley looked worried, Chloe looked preoccupied, and Moses appeared to be nervous, but Jay—calm as ever—stepped forward and crossed his arms methodically.

"I finished searching Lumen Spring and was heading back here but decided to check for any signs of them around your house, Will. When I looked a little closer, I found paw prints and shoe marks that looked like they were Harriet's. I followed them and they led out of Werites Beacon." Jay paused. "It seemed like they headed towards the harbor."

"You're sure?" Will asked insistently; Jay nodded once.

"Then let's go now!" Chloe exclaimed, and the group nodded, then took off at a run.

"Excuse me," Chloe said politely, while Senel waited nearby, and the sailor she'd spoken to turned around and nodded courteously at her. "Have you seen a little girl, probably this tall, with brown hair and a flower barrette in it? She probably had a white Galf with her."

"The last ferry to the mainland left a few hours ago, and the next one won't come for probably two days or more." He looked almost apologetic. "I'm sorry to say that I wasn't on duty here then. I didn't see anyone like that." Chloe smiled faintly.

"That's alright. Thank you for your help, sir." The sailor nodded and went back to his work. Chloe turned urgently towards Senel. "She could have been on it, and how would we know?"

"The best thing we can do is try to find someone that was here a few hours ago," Senel said, arms crossed. "Then we could rent a boat and wouldn't have to wait for the ferry. I could drive it." They looked at each other and silently agreed to the plan, then headed off to talk to some more people. It took a while—most of the people that had arrived on the Legacy that early had probably left the harbor—but Chloe and Senel finally found some workers that had been in the harbor this morning.

"We saw a little girl with a Galf," a well-built man was saying, "and I remember her because usually kids don't take the ferry on their own, least of all with a Galf. But she paid the fare and got on. The Galf seemed well-behaved so I didn't try to make her stay here."

"That was Harriet. It had to be," Chloe said after thanking the man and walking off.

"Now to tell the others." It didn't take long to find their friends and soon they'd relayed the situation.

"So she really did leave the Legacy. What was she thinking?" Senel hesitated, then sighed and decided to speak up.

"She might have left because of the conversation last night," the Iron Eren explained, inwardly waiting for the reaction to this.

"When your family was brought up," Jay said calmly.

"Yeah." Senel rubbed his head, which was hurting again. There was definitely a large bump there. "I meant that I wasn't upset. What's there to be upset about, anyway? I can't remember any of my family." Suddenly the dream he'd had came back to him in a rush and a spasm of panic almost made him gasp. Who had that person been? But he shook off the memory of the dream and continued. "Still, though, Harriet wanted to try and find them. That's the only explanation I can think of."

"That may be," Jay agreed, sighing slightly. "And if it is, then I had something to do with why she left, too. So don't feel responsible for that. The more important problem at hand is to get a boat and go find those two."

"We'll take care of that now. Would you be willing to pilot it, Senel?"

"Of course," the Eren replied, and the group headed off towards the boat rental. Once there, everyone chipped in until they had the required fifteen thousand Gald to rent a boat for a week. The boat was somewhat small but still fit everyone, and although the group now had a dent in their wallets, it was worth the price to find Harriet and Creamy. Senel practically leapt aboard and rushed to get the engine started, then waited until everyone was ready to push off before moving to the wheel and driving off. Senel looked up as Shirley approached him and smiled faintly. Before leaving Werites Beacon, the group had tried to convince her to stay behind in case Harriet and Creamy came back on their own, but she'd insisted despite having an allergy to seawater. "Will you be alright, Shirley? There's a cabin, even if it's small."

"I'm fine for now, but I think I'll go down there later. The weather's nice today." They were unpleasantly reminded of the first time they'd been on a ship with something important to do. The events this time were slightly different, and even with the hardship they'd gone through, the adopted siblings were happy that everything had happened because they'd met a lot of new friends and had lots of fun times during the journey. "Don't worry about me, okay?" She asked, smiling.

"Alright," Senel answered doubtfully, automatically steering the wheel as he looked at Shirley. She laughed, then tried to be serious as she frowned.

"Don't take your eyes off of the sea," Shirley mock-scolded, shaking a finger. Senel laughed too and turned his attention back to steering, even thought he hadn't been going off course. After a while Shirley went to rest in the cabin since the wind had kicked up and was spraying seawater across the deck. Aside from the sudden breeze the weather was calm—blue sky, puffy white clouds, and relatively small waves. Senel just hoped that this would hold out. He could tell that the weather was going to stay calm, but knew it could change quickly, and so he knew Shirley was right. He needed to pay attention and get them all to the Mainland as quickly as possible. It was still another few hours until they hit land again and from there depending on where Harriet and Creamy had gone they had another long stretch ahead of them. Norma and Will had planned and packed food and water to bring with them that would last for two days, and they all still had Gald that they'd pooled and given to Will. The scholar was keeping it for necessities on the Mainland countries.

"I wonder how far they could have gotten," Senel muttered to himself some time later. "As long as they're together, they should be fine."

"That's right!" Norma chirped, suddenly coming up beside Senel, who didn't look at her but smirked. "We'll find them. Just concentrate on steering!" The Crystal Eren slapped Senel on the back reassuringly. "Let Jay know when you want to take a break."

"Who said I was going to steer?" Jay asked lazily. "Senel's doing fine, and it's not too much longer until we get to the Mainland." Norma looked around and could see a large mass far in front of them, but it was so big that even from this distance she was sure it was the Mainland.

"Good," she said with a firm nod. "Then we'll find Harriet and Creamy in no time."

Harriet emerged from a bakery holding two ham and cheese croissants, one of which she gave to Creamy. Harriet settled down on a bench outside the shop and Creamy curled up at Harriet's shoes to eat. "He won't be mad that I took some of his money. I had some allowance, but I just had to take a little more. He wouldn't want me to be hungry." Creamy didn't wag her tail or make any noise. Harriet fidgeted. "He'll probably be mad though…" The duo finished their croissants and began to walk through the streets of the Gadorian capital. "I went to the Legacy on my own before and everything was fine. Dad never told me I couldn't do it again." The Galf, who was almost as tall as Harriet, nudged her shoulder. "Yeah…he might be mad. They might all be mad. But maybe things will be better if I find some of Senel's family here." The girl folded one arm close to her body and held the other to her chin. "I just wonder where I should start."

Creamy lifted her ears suddenly and whipped around. Harriet stopped and turned, too, wondering what had gotten her attention. "What is it, Creamy? Do you smell someone like Senel?" There wasn't anyone else on this street, except for one man that was standing a few feet away. His hair was a washed-out blond color and his eyes were green. The young man's clothes, consisting of loose gray pants and a faded orange shirt were covered with dust and slightly patched. But his short straight hair looked clean, suggesting that he was just working right now and usually wore less beaten outfits. His arms also showed the work he did was strenuous. Harriet stared and turned her nose up at the man. Creamy wasn't growling, so she didn't feel too nervous, but still she didn't know why he was staring. "What is it?" She demanded and the man looked apologetic.

"You know that Galf?" He asked quietly, and Harriet lifted her eyebrows.

"Yes. My friend found her around a month ago." Harriet noticed that the man was looking almost happily at the Galf, and that Creamy was wagging her tail slowly.

"And I couldn't help hearing that you mentioned someone named Senel? Is that the friend that found her?" Harriet crossed her arms.

"Yes, he is. He found her before any of my friends did. Well, she really found him first. Why do you want to know about them?" Something that had made the stranger's face pinched and tired now vanished and he seemed to become happy about something.

"Well, I know Creamy, and I believe I know the Senel you're talking about, too." Harriet let her arms drop and she became excited.

"Really? You do? Because I've been looking for people who knew him! Are you family?" The man laughed quietly and hesitated, then began approaching Creamy and Harriet. "Can you tell me how you know him?"

"Yes," he replied, kneeling in front of Creamy, who let him pet her. The man's green eyes looked intently at Harriet and the girl realized his mouth was pressed in a tight line, like he was trying not to laugh or cry. "But it's a bit of a long story."

"That's alright!" Harriet burst out, smiling now. "Please tell me! And tell me how you know Creamy, too!" The girl offered her hand to the man, and after a look of bewilderment and moment of hesitation, he took it, but was biting his lip. With Creamy walking next to the man, they all began to walk down the streets of the capital.

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**Author's Note: There we go! It was a long time since I updated last, and I'm sorry. I think this chapter was pretty short….. :/**

**Anyway, I am still working on this story. Don't worry. I hope you all are still liking it, and aren't wanting to throw rotten tomatoes at me. :) Kidding! Have a good Spring Break…and summer will be here again soon….whoohoo!**


	13. Necessary Lies

**Just gonna say it: here we go! Chapter Thirteen! =D The chapter where the author makes the characters lie horribly. **

**I don't own Tales of Legendia or the characters except the ones I make up. I forgot the disclaimer for last chapter. Arrest me now. ;-;**

**No. Hopefully not.**

**Enjoy! You guys rock! Thanks for reading!**

**Necessary Lies**

Will had drilled everyone on the plan half an hour before they reached Gadoria's port, and everyone agreed it was a good one. They had elected Will to answer the questions that the officials who checked the boats and passengers asked. The woman, dressed in a blue uniform consisting of long pants, a long-sleeved collared shirt, and a blue wide brimmed hat was holding a clipboard and a pencil. The clipboard had several detailed sheets of paper on it. The wooden building they were all currently standing in didn't let much light in—it was even darker now since storm clouds had come up just after they'd landed in port—but a steadily burning oil lamp gave enough light for everyone to see by.

"People voyaging on their own boat usually have their travel papers in order. Why didn't you, sir?" Everyone else kept quiet and kept their faces into masks of either or concern. "Would you mind explaining that to me, and tell me all of your family members' names, as well?" Will nodded politely.

"I apologize for the trouble, ma'am. We came here because a relative of ours suddenly became very ill." Norma tried not to react. It was rare to hear Teach lie through his teeth like that. She just hoped the officer would buy it. They were already under suspicion because they were newcomers without the right—well, without _any_—travel papers. And also, they weren't really family—though Moses would certainly argue that they were. Good thing Will was going the talking. "My name is Will Raynard, ma'am." He turned to the group and said their name while gesturing to them. "This is Senel and Shirley Fennes." The two mentioned youths nodded their heads once in unison. "And the three of us are cousins." Will turned to Jay and Moses. "Their names are Moses and Jay Sandor, and they're my nephews." Moses grinned and Jay smiled softly while nodding once. Will moved to Norma. "This is Norma Sandor, and she's my niece." Now only Chloe was left. "This is Chloe Valens, and we're family friends." They had decided that was the safest thing, since Chloe was originally from Gadoria. Senel's last name had been changed to match Shirley's, also to be safe. The two hadn't told anyone their real names while they'd been hiding from Vaclav, but it never hurt to be careful. The female officer looked them over carefully, and nodded. Inwardly everyone gave a sigh of relief but kept their faces normal. It seemed they'd passed. After the woman asked Will a few more questions, like how long they'd be here, and who the person they were seeing was (Will's sister's husband, and everyone else's cousin or uncle, and his name was Joshua), she let them go with a warning to bring their papers next time. Will assured her they would, thanked her, and they walked quietly out of the small building and only relaxed when they walked into the town of Gadoria.

"Quick thinking, Teach," Norma sighed, then giggled.

"I hope we'll be able to find Harriet and Creamy soon, little brother," Moses said, smirking at Jay, who sighed but smirked back.

"What's the plan now, Will?" Senel asked, stopping next to a building where a painted green bench was nestled. "Are we going to look together?"

"We could cover more ground if we split up, but since we're in an unfamiliar place, I'd suggest staying together."

"But," Norma interrupted urgently, "if that customs officer realizes we lied somehow, then it might be good if we'd split up because we need to find Harriet and Creamy no matter what." Will put a hand to his chin and nodded once.

"Good point," he agreed. "But we'd stay in groups. And we'd have to find a recognizable meeting place for later if anything happens or for when we find Harriet."

"So, who's going with who?" Chloe asked, her arms crossed, and tried not to react crossly when Will clamped his hand on Senel's shoulder. The Iron Eren's expression changed from neutral to startled.

"C, come with me, please?" Norma begged cutely, grabbing onto Chloe's arm.

"Don't act like we're on a day trip!" She exclaimed, and tried to squirm away from Norma, but had no luck. "We need to be serious about this!"

"Oh, okay. But can we still go together?" Norma asked hopefully and Chloe grumbled and sighed.

"Fine." Norma let go of her arm and jumped happily a few times. Shirley looked over at Chloe and Norma, then towards Senel and headed towards him with an uneasy look on her face.

"Could I come with you two? Then Moses and Jay can go together." She hesitated and glanced over at the aforementioned two. "Is that okay?" They nodded.

"Fine with me."

"No problem, sweetie!"

"Of course," Will said, and Senel smiled and nodded at Shirley. Then Will gestured to get everyone's attention.

"Listen, everyone. We'll walk together to start with so we can find a good place to meet up later." The group nodded in understanding. "After we've found one, we'll split up and search for two hours. Then we meet back at the meeting place and explain what we've learned. We are new, and we don't know where everything is. Don't mention names. Just ask people who seem receptive and trustworthy if they've seen a girl with a Galf. Because of Creamy, I think Harriet is safe, but I don't want to take chances." Everyone nodded again, and then they set off to find a meeting place. Not too much later the street they were walking on became wider and led to a plaza of sorts where a huge, ornately decorated fountain that two large bowls with water flowing gracefully over them and into the main fountain sat.

"This seems like a good spot, and it's popular," Chloe murmured, noticing the people sitting around waiting, or just walking and chatting amongst themselves. "I kind of remember this place. I'd meet my friends here all the time…and my parents came here a lot, too…"

"I can see why," Norma cooed. "This place is so pretty. So, the meeting place is the fountain plaza. Everyone agree?" The group of friends nodded once, looking satisfied, and then broke into their groups and began the search.

About an hour before Senel and the others arrived at Gadoria's port, Harriet and Creamy were sitting on the fountain's edge in the plaza with that stranger they'd met earlier.

"I can't believe you know Senel," Harriet exclaimed. "I thought I'd have to look for a long time to find anyone!" The man laughed and scratched the side of his face anxiously.

"I can't believe you know him, either. After Vaclav took Senel away….I really never thought I'd see him again." The man looked away, then smiled at Harriet. "I did try my best to look for him, but it turned out he was on the Legacy! It's thanks to you I could find out what happened to him." Harriet smiled back, then looked around curiously, her expression almost nervous. "What is it?"

"Um…Niklas….my dad and friends are probably looking for me."

"They don't know you're here?"

"Not exactly….but I left them a note. They might have tried to follow me and figured out I came here." Niklas frowned slightly and looked concerned, but waited for Harriet to finish. "Senel and everyone might be coming here sometime to look for me….I left them a note to tell them that I'd be back soon, but Creamy led me to the port, and I got on a boat and…now I'm here. I didn't go back so I bet they're looking for me."

"I could take you back to the Legacy…" Harriet held her breath and Creamy wagged her tail and nudged the girl's arm, "…but it's probably safer to stay in one place if there's a chance they could be looking for you. And I bet you don't want to go back now, right?" Harriet nodded vigorously and Niklas laughed. "I thought so. And if it's okay with you, could I hang out with you until they come?" He liked Harriet, but mostly wanted to make sure that she was safe in Gadoria. It was bigger than the whole Legacy, even if the Legacy was a large continent on a ship.

"You can tell people I'm your little sister!" Harriet giggled and Niklas laughed quietly and his face flushed.

"That would mean your dad was my dad, though. Not that that's a bad thing, really, but…." Harriet laughed at him.

"It's ok. He wouldn't mind." The girl tilted her head. "But where are your parents in this town? Your parents, and Senel's parents too?"

"Well, my adoptive parents live here. I told you how they found me, remember?" Harriet nodded. "I wanted to go look for Senel," he said, somewhat wistfully, "but my father was sick, and my mother needed help taking care of him. I also stayed here longer after part of this town was damaged."

"I know about that! One of Senel's friends name Stella stopped the Nerifes Cannon and saved the town from being attacked by it again." Niklas's eyes widened.

"She did?" He asked, in awe because of all the things he was just learning Senel had been up to. "So she saved the town? Everyone saw that another beam was coming, but it stopped halfway and flew into the sky where it exploded." Harriet nodded.

"Senel and everyone told me that was Stella. She had a Teriques," she stumbled over the word slightly, "they said, and that she sent it to stop it after it fired."

"Is she coming here too?" Niklas asked eagerly, now knowing who had saved everyone. He wanted to thank her, but felt his heart drop when Harriet suddenly looked sad.

"Stella stopped the cannon, and after that, she…died." Niklas tensed and he tightly gripped the edge of the stone fountain. "She used her Teriques to stop it, but that used a lot of her energy."

"What's a Teriques?" Niklas asked curiously, having never heard that word before.

"It's something that looks like wings…but it was Stella's power. She could do cool things with it, like save people. I first met Senel after he'd fallen off a cliff," Niklas looked at Harriet in alarm, "but instead of really falling he floated down to the ground and was okay. Stella used her Teriques to do that."

"What did he get into? Why did he fall off a cliff?" Niklas asked, still looking stunned. Harriet giggled at his reaction, then became serious and told the story.

"He and Shirley—his sister—met up with my dad, and my friends Jay and Chloe after they got to the Legacy, but they left and Vaclav and his soldiers found him. It was bad because someone in his army attacked Senel and then Vaclav threw him over the cliff. Shirley thought he was dead."

"Senel escaped from Vaclav, then! But he found Senel again." Niklas's face darkened and he bit his lip. "Is Vaclav still…around?" Harriet frowned and shook her head.

"No, he's not. Senel and my dad and everyone fought him." Niklas's face darkened for a moment; then he smiled and sighed.

"I'm glad he had friends like them helping him. I know that it would have been hard to face Vaclav alone. That's why he was able to take Senel away from me." Harriet looked up at Niklas and was about to tell him not to be upset when Creamy sat up and started barking, and a moment later, she took off through the square, causing some people to jump out of her way. Harriet leapt off of the bench and called after her.

"Creamy, wait! Where are you going?" Niklas touched Harriet on the shoulder and she gazed anxiously up at him.

"Let's follow her. Come on." Harriet slid her hand inside Niklas's hand and together they took off after the Galf. It was difficult to keep up with her since she ran a lot faster than people, but Harriet was still running with everything she had. Niklas raised his voice and yelled, "Creamy! Slow down!" He hoped she would hear and listen to him, but the Galf kept running at the same pace and Niklas pushed himself to run faster. He was able to run very quickly, thanks to the training he'd made himself do for years, but the Galf still was faster. It was hard to beat running on four legs, and Creamy was a wild animal. But Niklas managed to keep up and noticed that Creamy was finally slowing down. Harriet and Creamy were a ways in front of him, and as the Galf slowed down, the girl started to slow down, too, but tripped and fell flat onto her face. "Are you alright?" Niklas yelled, and knelt before Harriet when he reached her. The girl was sniffling and holding her right arm. Niklas picked her up under the arms and examined it. "You scraped your arm a little." Harriet began trembling and tears ran down her face. Niklas noticed that her knee was scraped and her dress was slightly torn from the fall, too. As the young man began to turn and head towards a shop that sold medical supplies, he saw a dark-haired kid whose head came up to a little above his shoulder, and before he could react, the other person had pulled a knife and was holding it to Niklas's throat.

"Put her down. Slowly," he commanded calmly, but the warning tone was obvious. Niklas knew that if he made a wrong move, this boy would kill him, but who was he in the first place?

"Who are you?" He asked quietly, and the dagger pressed closer to his neck, cutting the skin a bit.

"That's none of your business. Just put her down." Harriet sniffled and turned her head towards the person and her eyes widened in recognition. She'd recognized his voice too and forgot her scrapes for the moment.

"Jay! You came!" She exclaimed happily, to Jay's confusion. She didn't seem the least bit scared even though this stranger was carrying her and had apparently hurt her. "We have a lot to tell you!" Jay kept his knife in position.

"Who is he, Harriet? Do you know him?"

"No, but he knows Senel! And he's been really nice to me. He showed me around the town." Jay's face became surprised for a moment, but then it hardened.

"Put her down. I won't say it again." Niklas hastily but carefully set Harriet down—Jay's knife followed his neck the whole way—and the girl hobbled up to Jay and hugged him around the waist.

"Listen, I promise that I…" Niklas began desperately, but Jay's dagger pressed into his throat again, silencing him.

"I don't believe I asked for an explanation." To Niklas's surprise, Jay removed the dagger from his throat and then stepped away, but immediately after he did, the young adult felt something hard slam into the back of his head. Something behind his eyes burst and he saw bright spots of light for a few seconds before he felt his legs swaying. He thought he heard Harriet screaming something….the whole situation felt kind of familiar….then the world around him swayed as he fell to the ground and blacked out.

"_That's really what he said?"_

"_Yeah! I'm telling the truth! And he knows Creamy too."_

"_And you're sure he was helping you."_

"_Yes! He's a nice person! When he wakes up tell him you're sorry, Moses!"_

"…_Yes ma'am…"_

"_Jay and Moses were trying to protect you, Harriet. We didn't know who he was. He could still have made that story up. He probably did."_

"_But he didn't!"_

"_Do you remember anyone like him, Senel?"_

"_No, but…I don't remember most things from when I was little. Just my name. And Vaclav only told me that I was a war orphan, anyway."_

Niklas only recognized a few of the voices..Harriet's, and that person called Jay. There was a name that was familiar—Senel. The young adult tried to ignore the dull throbbing pain in his head and open his eyes. The voices kept on talking, so it seemed they weren't paying attention to him. Niklas opened his eyes, winced, and looked to his left. Water was trickling close to his ears and the surface beneath him was hard, like stone. It seemed like he was near the fountain plaza, though he couldn't see much since his eyes were still focusing, and it seemed to be dark outside. The air was slightly warm, but the sky had dark brown and gray clouds covering it. When a storm was about to hit, most people headed inside and didn't come out until the sky cleared, so the plaza was probably empty. Niklas tried to look around, but the pain in his head flared up when he moved, and he curled onto his side with his hands grabbing his head. It helped a little, but he felt himself tipping over the edge of something, and without warning he felt water closing over his head. He was startled and confused but the coldness of the water woke him up. Niklas stood and broke the surface, shaking his head and spitting out water. When he shook his head, he heard that someone was laughing.

"Ya alright? Well, you won't have to take a bath for another week, at least." Niklas blinked water out of his eyes. A red-haired person with an eye patch was holding his stomach and laughing.

"You kidding?" Niklas coughed out another mouthful of water and gave a wry grin. "With the work I do, if I didn't take a bath for a week, no one would ever come near me."

"Nice," Jay sighed, shaking his head.

"Niklas? You okay?" Harriet stepped up to the fountain and put her hands on the edge, smiling at him and trying not to laugh.

"I'm fine, thanks, Harriet," he answered with a laugh. Harriet stepped back as he climbed out of the fountain and began wringing out his hair and clothes. Despite this, though, he was still dripping wet.

"Niklas, was it?" Will was standing in front of Harriet and glaring at Niklas suspiciously. The young man decided to just nod and be polite since this man seemed pretty mistrustful of him—though why shouldn't he be? They didn't know each other.

"Yes, sir," he answered simply, and Will raised an eyebrow.

"When did you meet Harriet, and where?"

"She was sitting outside of the Domalie Bakery with Creamy…and I was about to go back to work when I heard her mention Senel." Niklas sat on the edge of the fountain, the throbbing in his head making him a little dizzy, and he stared around at everyone in the group. No one said anything, but Niklas's eyes finally came to rest on Senel. "You're Senel, aren't you?" The Iron Eren narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"How do you know me?" He demanded. Shirley looked anxiously from Senel to Niklas. Norma and Moses were looking at each other with slight looks of confusion. Will and Jay were simply waiting for Niklas to respond, and Harriet was standing next to Creamy now, petting the animal gently. The Galf was gazing at Niklas, and now looked at Senel. Niklas hesitated, then covered his eyes with a hand. He was sure of who Senel was, but would anyone believe him? More importantly, would Senel? He had only been five years old when it happened, and most likely didn't remember any of it.

"You're my younger brother."

**Note: I just have the feeling that I messed up everyone's fake relation to each other because I suck at naming familial relationships. Just to demonstrate, I called a long-time babysitter of my sisters and me my cousin. Or my something. So if I messed up the fake relationships somehow, I think we'll all just laugh about it later.**

**The Domalie Bakery is a real place actually. I couldn't make up a name that cute. It's a bakery in Taiwan that has lots of nice stuff like three-flavor mini-cakes (I called it Neapolitan cake because it was strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla flavor) and pastries and rolls. It's really nice. They even have Domalie postcards and business cards. When I was in Taiwan, I collected business cards of restaurants I went to. Some of the business cards unfolded into mini-menus. ^.^ Thanks for reading and I hope you're all having fun holidays!**


	14. Family

Flowers and Fur – Chapter 14

Everyone in the group except Harriet reacted with shock to Niklas's statement.

"Your younger brother?" Moses exclaimed. "Your real younger brother?"

"You're my brother?" Senel repeated dubiously. Niklas nodded anxiously, realizing that he wouldn't be believed at first. Maybe not at all. But he wanted to try, though if he failed, then he'd at least have gotten to see Senel and know he was alright.

"Yes," he replied, deciding to just give straight answers. Trying to give too much information when it wasn't asked for could just complicate things. The one called Jay was crossing his arms thoughtfully.

"Am I correct in saying that your parents are dead—Niklas, was it?" He asked calmly.

"…That's right."

"It'll be hard to see any resemblance, then. Your hair is somewhat similar to Senel's, though."

"Hey…" Senel said warningly.

"Except not spiky," Norma put in cheerfully. Senel gave an exasperated sigh before speaking up, annoyed.

"I don't know why you would lie," he accused, "but still, you could be. You could have been with Vaclav's army." Harriet began to protest but Will shushed her, and Niklas shook his head.

"I wasn't. I was too young."

"Is that all you have?" Senel retorted with a glare. "I was too young, and that didn't stop them from taking me." Niklas didn't break his gaze. "And you being older didn't stop Vaclav, obviously." Norma and Shirley gasped and Moses raised his eyebrows. Jay and Will were silent, and Harriet was biting her lower lip. Creamy pawed at the ground and yawned.

"Then the reason they took you, even when you were five years younger than me, was because you had Iron Eres." Senel had a retort in mind but for some reason couldn't say it. "I guess they would have taken both of us if I'd shown Eren powers too, but you were the only one." Senel narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "That's why I couldn't stop them."

"How can I know you're telling the truth?" He demanded, but Niklas just sighed.

"You can't." Senel crossed his arms. "I can only ask you to believe me. When you didn't remember me, I knew you'd also have been too young to remember most of what happened then." Niklas rubbed his forehead uncomfortably. "I was ten and you were five. I can't remember a lot about our parents except their names….so there's no way you would remember much."

"Shut up," Senel growled. "All this is making me do is wish that none of it had happened." He trailed off with an angry exclamation and covered his face with his right hand. "And I know that's useless. The past helps clear things up sometimes, but other times it just gets in the way." Senel glowered at Niklas, who just stared back at him

"Senel!" Harriet exclaimed furiously. "He IS your brother! I know he isn't lying! Why would he? Vaclav's gone, and so is his army! That's what you told me!" Senel and the others stared down at Harriet, eye wide. "Right? If you don't want to believe him, then I can't make you, but at least listen to him! He looked for you for a long, long, time….all of his life, Senel!"

"Harriet…" Senel tried to calm her down, but she was throwing a stomping fit.

"No! Listen to me!" Harriet was shouting, but although she appeared to be throwing a tantrum, her voice wasn't whining or childish. It was steady and made her sound a lot older than she really was. "He worked hard and made himself train every day so he'd be strong enough to help people. He got Eres, but after you were already gone." Senel took a step back, eyes still wide as he remembered something. "He hated that."

"_I never looked at my being an Eren as a good thing."_

"Senel," Niklas told him slowly. "If you don't believe me, that's fine, because honestly, I just wanted to find you and see that you were doing alright. I'm glad you got away from Vaclav. Harriet told me some of what you did. She also told me about your friend, Stella." The group collectively flinched and glanced towards Senel, who was staring straight-faced at Niklas. "A lot of the people I knew here were injured in the attack. But it would have been a lot worse if she hadn't stopped it. There were injuries but no one died." Lightning suddenly flashed overhead. Niklas looked at Harriet and smiled. She smiled back. "You came here to find Harriet and Creamy, I know. Whenever you're ready you can leave, but I'd say not tonight. There's a storm coming. If you like, you can stay at my house, or I'll show you to the inn." Will stepped up and took charge, since Senel appeared unable to speak, or didn't want to. Rain began falling steadily.

"Which is the closest?" He asked.

"My house," Niklas replied. "It has a few extra rooms. I'm sure you all could fit."

"Then we'll take you up on that, Niklas."

"For now, anyway," Senel muttered and walked in between Chloe and Harriet as everyone hurried after Niklas down the streets of Gadoria. On the way, Will introduced everyone, and when Niklas formally introduced himself in return—using the last name Coolidge, Senel looked away with a dark expression. Everyone was all soaked once they arrived at his house, and Niklas let everyone in first before going in after them and shutting the door. He closed the curtains and ran upstairs to look for towels so everyone could dry off. He clambered back downstairs and passed the clean off-white towels out.

"Here you go," he said as he handed them off to the group members. Senel swept his from Niklas's hand and turned his back while he toweled his spiky white hair. Creamy sidled up to his left side and nudged his arm. "I'll get the bath ready."

"I wanna go first!" Norma exclaimed with an excited squeak. Will shot a look at her, and the Crystal Eren frantically waved her arms. "What? I'm cold, wet, and tired!"

"So are we all," Moses scoffed. Creamy, who was standing in the middle of the group, began shaking herself off and scattered water droplets over everyone.

"Whoa!"

"Eeep!"

"Ack!"

"Hey!"

"That's it! Where's the bath?" Norma asked. Just then, Niklas returned and pointed to a door down the hall. Norma took off before Will could grab her arm and stop her. She was back shortly, jumping up and down with excitement. "It's huge! The girls could all take a bath at once!" Shirley, Chloe, and Harriet, glanced at each other. "If that's okay."

"I don't mind," Harriet said.

"…Alright. Why not?" Shirley spoke up. Chloe turned red.

"I guess…"

"The shampoo, soap, and towels are on the counter in there," Niklas explained after the girls as they strode off towards the bathroom. "There is a towel rack to dry your clothes, too."

"Is there…a….lock?" Chloe asked quietly, looking at her feet, and Niklas nodded quickly.

"It locks from the inside." Chloe nodded, and Niklas nodded, then headed to the kitchen table after the knight shut the bathroom door. He sat down in a chair with a tired sigh. Then he got up again and went upstairs. "I'll go get the rooms ready. Do you need anything—like food?" He asked Will, Senel, Jay, and Moses; they all shook their heads.

"We're fine for now, but thank you," Will answered. Jay nudged Senel's arm.

"Well, Senel?" He asked bluntly, looking meaningfully up at his friend, who scowled and looked away. "That's more like the old Senel," he noted. "An interesting reverse."

"What?" Senel demanded fiercely. "You expect me to believe him? I don't know why he'd make that up, but….I just can't believe him."

"Why?" Moses asked. "He got some things about you down, Senel. You _were_ young when you were pulled into Vaclav's army, and you wouldn't remember him or your parents. You didn't even have to ask him."

"That's why I don't believe him," Senel grunted. "Anyone in Vaclav's army who remembered me would know that."

"He looks like he's in his twenties now…making him just a kid when Vaclav found you. Would anyone that young have been in Vaclav's army—besides you?" Jay questioned, and Senel forestalled the question by drying off his hair some more. When he was done his hair had poofed up and lost most of its spikes. Moses snorted with laughter and Creamy wagged her tail from where she lay on the floor. Senel closed his eyes and smoothed it down.

"There were some young people…but I can't remember very well," Senel replied grudgingly.

"So you shouldn't believe or mistrust him," Jay stated. "Yet. Like Harriet said, you could just give him a chance to explain his side of the story."

"He wants you to believe him, but said you didn't have to, and he accepted that." Senel frowned at Will but didn't say anything. "Harriet trusts him, and she's always been able to trust people—trust that's not misguided, either." Will's eyes were distant. "Why else would she have stayed with me even if she didn't like me at first? She could have kept living at Madam Musette's house."

"She wanted to make sure you didn't do stupid things," Moses joked.

"Not now, Moses," Jay said, rolling his eyes. The group fell silent as Niklas started coming down the stairs.

"Fine. I'll listen to him," Senel hissed in an undertone. "But I want to sleep and figure things out before I do anything."

"Well, the rooms are ready," Niklas announced. "There are two medium ones upstairs."

"You have a pretty nice place," Moses commented, and Senel's 'brother' rubbed his forehead.

"I got a good deal with this house somehow. It's in good shape, it's big, and I could mostly afford it. The neighborhood around here is in a good part of town, too." Moses crossed his arms thoughtfully.

"Wonder why." He grinned. "Maybe it's haunted so the previous owners knocked down the price." Niklas laughed.

"If there are any ghosts, I haven't seen them yet," he chuckled. Senel shook his head. "I can make something to eat, if you like," Niklas offered. "Seems like you had a long trip. It's a good thing you got here before that storm came in."

"I think we're mostly tired now," Will said politely, "but thank you for the offer." Niklas nodded.

"Whenever you get hungry, let me know. There are some public baths in town. Whenever you want to go there, I could take you to them."

"I just want to get some sleep," Moses sighed, then yawned loudly and stretched his arms.

"You're still soaking wet. Don't catch a cold," Niklas said abruptly, then looked embarrassed and laughed slightly. "I mean, well…whatever you want to do. I'll show you the rooms." Moses, Jay, Senel, and Will trailed after him upstairs and saw that there was one room upstairs with two beds. On the floor in the room were two pallets with thick blankets and small pillows. "There's one more room downstairs. I'm sorry this is all."

"Don't worry. This is more than enough. The girls can take the room downstairs, if that's fine with you."

"Of course."

"Where will you sleep, though?" Moses asked, and Niklas hesitated, then held a hand to his head.

"I thought about that," he said finally. "There's an inn in town. I'll stay there as long as you're here. This house is better for a lot of people, anyway."

"Thank you. We appreciate it," Will said.

"I almost forgot," Niklas said suddenly, then headed downstairs. Jay and Senel stayed upstairs but Will and Moses followed him. Niklas was opening a set of cabinets. "This is where the food is." Inside, the two people saw a loaf of bread, a bunch of apples, pears, and a few bananas. "You can have anything you like, and I'm going to go do some shopping now."

"It's alright," Will said, but Niklas was already heading for the door. He turned and tossed Will a key.

"I was going to anyhow. I'll be back soon. That's a spare key for the house—go ahead and keep it." He looked up as footsteps came down the stairs and saw Senel approaching him with a sharp look on his face.

"I'm coming." Niklas nodded, secretly glad, but had a feeling Senel wasn't just coming to take a walk. They headed out the door, and Niklas stopped only to shut it behind him, and ten they walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Senel."

"What were their names?" Niklas looked over at Senel, his expression troubled.

"Our parents?"

"….Yes."

"Well…our father's name was Tyri, and our mother was named Anali."

"And they were killed because of the war in Gadoria?" Niklas nodded and sighed heavily.

"Vaclav was honest about one thing—that because they'd been killed you were a war orphan."

"He didn't tell me anything about you. But he wouldn't have." Niklas stopped and Senel turned around and narrowed his eyes.

"I looked for you, Senel. I promise I did. I looked everywhere I could, but I never found you. I ended up in this town. Vaclav must have gone another way. I tried to go back and look some more, but I collapsed and was found by a some people. Since I was so young, I guess, they adopted me and treated me like their real child."

"Where do they live?"

"Just my mother. My dad died." Senel didn't say anything. "He was sick, so I stayed and helped my mother take care of him but….after that, Gadoria was attacked by the Nerifes Cannon. And your friend, Stella, stopped it." Senel looked up sharply, a strange glint in his eyes.

"How did you know about that?" He questioned, crossing his arms.

"Harriet told me about it before you found us," Niklas replied. "I don't know if you…wanted me to find out any of that. But…"

"And she told you about Stella."

"She did," he nodded. "I…well…no one ever knew what the real deal was with the Cannon, or why it stopped…" Niklas sighed and held his arms close to his body as if he was cold. Senel gave him a hard glance. "A lot of people still think that it was a purposeful attack by most of the Legacy." The white-haired Eren clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "But now _I_ know what really happened, and I want to let people know what really happened." He met Senel's eyes levelly. "I also want to pay my respects to Stella, Senel."

"You'd have to come to Werites Beacon with us….and to be honest, I don't want that."

"I know," Niklas said ruefully.

"I couldn't stop, you though. But you'd have to find your own way there."

"It seems like I abandoned you." Niklas stated suddenly, and Senel was surprised for a moment, but then glared at the older person angrily. "Is that what's bothering you?"

"Why does that matter to you?"

"Because older siblings are supposed to protect their younger siblings, and I wasn't able to save you from Vaclav."

"Maybe I am angry," Senel scoffed, lifting his shoulders. "But Vaclav's gone, so I don't see why any of that matters now." The younger Eren crossed his arms. "As bad as Vaclav was, if he hadn't taken me, I wouldn't have met Stella _or _Shirley."

"What do you mean?" Niklas asked, and felt a pang of foreboding when Senel's face shadowed in a grimace.

"Vaclav trained me, and I didn't ever question any of his orders. He was like my parent, so I did what he said." The two stopped outside the grocer and sat on a bench, speaking in low tones.

"And….you went somewhere under his orders, then met Stella and Shirley?" Senel nodded once, and smiled, but his eyes were glaring daggers as he pictured Vaclav.

"I was supposed to infiltrate the Village of the Merines and then get a signal to Vaclav's troops so they could invade it. But I realized how much I'd hated living in his army, so I kept living there, and they accepted me." Senel lowered his head slightly. "But Vaclav found the village without my help and attacked it. Shirley and I escaped—I was around thirteen years old—and we both thought Stella had died."

"But she hadn't?" Niklas prompted when Senel was silent for a few moments.

"Vaclav had found her, and captured her. He'd used her to control the Legacy for a long time, but she saved me because she was synchronized with it, and eventually she was the one who stopped the Cannon from firing again."

"If it had, I'm sure that the whole town would have been destroyed. But, Senel….I'm sorry. I really am."

"Well, don't be!" Senel barked, and Niklas sighed and leaned back on the bench. Noticing the sun was starting to go down, he stood and moved towards the store's entrance.

"Anything you want?" Niklas questioned, then against his better judgment asked, "Like a piece of candy?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Senel hissed, standing up quickly and glowering. "I'm going back. And I hope you're not comfortable with this arrangement," he reminded Niklas, who smiled faintly at him. "We're leaving soon."

"What about Creamy?"

"She belongs in Werites Beacon," Senel replied promptly, his tone cold. Then his expression softened as he thought about the Galf. "But it's her decision, not ours."

"You're right. She'll probably go back with you." Senel narrowed his eyes and turned sharply, but involuntarily stopped when Niklas called to him.

"No matter what happens, I'm just glad I got to meet you again." Slowly, the Iron Eren turned and stared. Niklas was holding his arms close to his body again, and Senel almost missed a small shiver that went through him. "For so many years I didn't know if you were alive, so when Harriet and Creamy showed up, I almost couldn't believe it. I tried not to believe until I actually saw you."

"Your point is?" Senel questioned sharply.

"My point is that as long as I know you're safe and doing fine without me, I won't stop you when you leave. I might not even come with you." He ran his hands through his hair, then smiled wistfully. "You built your own life and it's going fine. I shouldn't butt in."

"That's enough," Senel growled. "I get it." Niklas laughed to himself when Senel turned on his heel and began walking away. He had just entered the store when he heard a whining noise behind him. Turning, he saw the white-furred Galf standing in front of him.

"Creamy! How have you been?" She barked and wagged her tail, then padded over to the bench and sat down with a yawn. Niklas's green eyes narrowed and he gradually moved over towards her, peering at the Galf closely—more specifically, examining her midsection. "There's no other way to say this…..are you getting fat?" Creamy's ears lifted and she swung her head towards Niklas, piercing him with her dark, intelligent eyes. "Uhh…" He said, feeling guilty. "Something's different about you, is all. Maybe you just gained some healthy weight." Creamy gave a snort and Niklas laughed, then began stroking her softly behind the ears. "It's good to see you're safe. And you brought Senel and his friends here. I never thought I'd see him again. It's good to meet his friends too." He looked towards the pink and orange sky. "I want to go to Werites Beacon, but I need to take care of mother."

The Galf whapped her tail and tilted her head at him, looking somewhat amused…or maybe bored. Niklas tended to tack lots of emotions onto her without knowing if she was really feeling them or not. He didn't know a ton of things about Galves, and what he did know, he'd just observed by seeing how Creamy reacted. He knew that she didn't mind if he scratched her ears, but she did mind if he scratched her under the chin. She didn't like getting wet, but she of course needed water. In the past when Creamy was living in Niklas's house, she liked turning over her water bowl sometimes, leaving a small puddle. When Niklas wasn't paying attention, he would slip on the water and fall spectacularly. Maybe the times she did those kinds of things she was bored and got up to mischief in order to get attention. The Galf definitely liked having her stomach rubbed as long as Niklas did it the right way. As if reading the person's thoughts, Creamy stared back at Niklas and then rolled onto her back. "Oh, you want me to pet you? Alright, then."

He slid off of the bench and knelt in front of the Galf. Reaching his left hand out, Niklas began scratching Creamy's stomach and laughed when the Galf's right back paw started kicking. As he ran his hand down her stomach again, he rested his hand below her ribcage and paused. "Is your stomach growling?" He asked, puzzled, then felt a movement again and jerked his hand away. Creamy lifted her head and glanced at Niklas, who reluctantly began petting her stomach again. He was relieved when nothing happened, but was startled a minute later when he felt a strange movement, like someone had punched his hand very lightly. Niklas almost believed he'd imagined it when it came again and he lifted his hand, staring down at the Galf with wide eyes. "What's happening with you? Are you sick?"

"Move over," a voice nearby said, and Niklas looked up to see one of Senel's friends standing there. Thinking a moment, the person's name came to him—Jay. Niklas watched Jay put his hands on Creamy's abdomen and he waited for him to say something. But when he didn't, Niklas got a little impatient.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" The boy's sharp eyes lifted and there was a knowing smirk on his face.

"I know what's going on, and nothing's wrong…unless you don't know what to do…and it seems you don't." Niklas gave Jay, who was smirking, an irritated, confused look and shook his head.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? What's going on?" Jay shook his head and laughed.

"To think that you don't know, even though you're older…." He chuckled, patted Creamy's head fondly, then stood up and faced Niklas. That amused smirk was still on his face. "It seems that Creamy is pregnant."

"She….what? She's what?" Jay sighed.

"I didn't want to explain this in public, but let me put it this way: when a male Galf and a female Galf get together…"

"Alright, alright!" Niklas waved his hands quickly. "So she's going to have puppies? When?" He asked frantically, then felt his stomach drop when Jay shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I did hear that when a Galf is around five weeks pregnant, you can feel the pups kick. Galves are usually pregnant for nine weeks or so." Jay was smiling, while Niklas was slightly panicking.

"That means there's only four weeks left! What should we do?"

"Not panic," Jay replied dryly. "And I'm sure there's a place in town we can ask for advice." The young Eren gazed lazily up at Niklas, but there was a challenge in his eyes and tone, telling him to snap out of his panic and think. "I'm sure you know a lot of the people who live here. Is there anyone that works with Galves, or monsters, at least?" Taking a breath, Niklas nodded.

"My mother, actually—that is, my adoptive mother."

"Then get your shopping done and let's go talk to her."

"Good idea…alright…"

"I'll wait outside with Creamy. And Niklas….try to keep calm," Jay advised with a frown. "We won't let anything bad happen." Niklas glanced back at Jay and felt a little pang of embarrassment, but nodded appreciatively.

"Right…right….thanks, Jay."

"My pleasure," the young ninja laughed, then began stroking Creamy's ears.

* * *

**Yes, it might be weird that I made Senel and Co. stay in a stranger's house…and take a bath in a stranger's house…but….I guess I was banking on the fact that that was the only place they could go, and the group trusted Niklas just enough to not refuse shelter.**

**And people have baths together all the time in Japan. It's called "onsen" (hot spring) or "sentou" (public bath) in Japanese, and even though I have no idea where the Tales of Legendia people are from, Earth-culture-wise, I decided to throw some Japanese culture in there. And lots of other cultures do bathing together, naked or not, so there you go. I add culture bits in the stuff I write, depending on what languages I've studied or where I've been.**

**Not sure if I told this story before, but a delegation of Japanese people came to where I live once, and they went to a hot spring for a trip. Now, in Japan, people go into hot springs naked. There are male and female sides (but sometimes mixed sex bathing). Anyway, so no one had told this group they had to wear bathing suits, so they went into the hot springs naked. Must have thought the people with bathing suits were wearing them because they wanted to. Hahah. Culture differences.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	15. To You

**I practiced at writing romantic scenes in this chapter again…it might mostly be awkward though, I am not sure. But I liked the way it came out. If it's a little cheesy, but good, then that's fine with me. I tried to keep Chloe and Senel in character...I think I did. ;)  
Enjoy the chapter! And Happy Holidays. Can't believe winter break is here, but it's been fun, and tomorrow's Christmas! Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it! And Happy Hannukah and Happy Kwanzaa also for anyone who celebrates those. :)**

**I don't own any of the characters except Creamy and Niklas and any other random people I mention. I hope you are all still enjoying the story.**

* * *

**To You**

Senel quickly returned to Niklas's house and found the door unlocked. He opened it, then paused for a moment before passing through the doorway and shutting it quietly behind him. It wouldn't be good to leave now, since the smell of rain was still in the air, and the sea could turn deadly in an instant, but tomorrow it would likely be clear. That's when the Eren wanted to leave. The sooner, the better. In frustration, Senel hid his face in his hands and clenched his teeth. "A lot's happened, hasn't it?" Senel jumped and removed his hands from his face and spotted Chloe standing at the bottom of the stairs. She wasn't wearing her usual blue hat and her hair was wet and plastered to her neck and the sides of her face. It looked longer than usual when it was wet, and she looked a little strange without her hat. She was rarely without it.

"It's late," Senel said quietly, ignoring the question. "Where's everyone else?"

"They already went to bed, even Norma." She smiled faintly, looking relieved. "I thought she was going to call for a pillow fight. If she had, everyone could forget about sleeping tonight." Suddenly she appeared to remember something. "Jay went out a while after you did. He's still not back."

"Do you know where he went?"

"No," Chloe replied with a shake of her head. "He only said he was going for a short walk. And Creamy followed him."

"She did?" Senel looked confused, then shrugged. Galves did what they wanted—they always had, and definitely always would.

"Have you talked to Niklas?" Chloe asked, catching Senel a little off guard, but he regained his composure quickly and crossed his arms. Chloe noticed this and her mouth quirked upwards faintly in a smile.

"Just a little. I told him we're leaving as soon as we can."

"Is that really okay, Senel?" Chloe twitched in surprise, feeling the name come so easily from her mouth when she still wasn't used to calling Senel anything other than 'Coolidge'. Now that she knew that she'd been calling Senel by his first name, it was impossible to ignore it now. It didn't feel comfortable, calling Senel 'Senel', but Chloe found that she wasn't comfortable calling him 'Coolidge', either. And she couldn't just call him nothing; if she had to get his attention for some reason, simply yelling, "Hey, you!" wouldn't be that effective.

"It's fine," came Senel's brusque reply and Chloe gazed at him. Picking her words carefully, she made a quick decision and spoke.

"I know how this is affecting you."

"….What do you mean?" Senel asked with forced calmness, giving Chloe a guarded look.

"From the time we met Niklas, it's been written on your face. And I knew." Chloe didn't know if she was saying the right things, but she forced herself to continue. Senel was still listening, so she was going to keep talking. "You were happy, fine with the way things were going, then the past drops itself right in front of you….heh, more like kicks you in the face." Senel felt a little spasm of alarm and discomfort in his chest, but shook it off and prepared to tell Chloe that he was tired, that he didn't want to talk, but when he looked at her face, saw the firm, but understanding, look in her eyes….he kept quiet and waited. Chloe breathed a long sigh and smiled contemplatively. Senel's eyes widened a bit in realization.

"You're talking about when you got the letter from Arnold."

"I was forgetting it all, Senel." Chloe almost flinched again; this time she'd called him Senel with barely an afterthought, but that scared her somehow. _It's hard, so hard, but it shouldn't be. _"I felt my heart changing its mind, felt it getting used to being in a new environment. I had a family—of sorts—again, and no one was looking down on me, waiting for me to fail." The knight glanced at the ceiling. "There were times when I stayed awake at night and thought about my parents, and asked them if I should be living like this, or if I should be finding their murderer. I never got an answer, but I could finally sleep at night without…without having nightmares." Chloe paused, somewhat awkwardly, and Senel looked down, then moved to where she was standing. He stopped when her expression darkened a bit. "Then I met Stingle—Arnold—and everything came back. I really hadn't forgotten."

"You're saying that…" Senel began but Chloe finished for him, looking meaningfully into his eyes and nodding.

"I see myself in you right now. You look exactly how I must have…." Chloe trailed off and clenched her teeth for a moment before falteringly moving closer to Senel. "I know, believe me. It's hard. You build yourself up but when something happens, the memories come back and you realize that you had been trying to get rid of a scar that could never go away."

"Chloe…."

"The way I was….my desire to get revenge came back. And I can never thank…thank you and the others enough because…" Chloe took a deep breath and Senel crossed his arms, not in impatience, but slight unease because a warmth he wasn't used to was lighting up in his chest. "Because you taught me that my parents would not come back if I got my revenge. It wouldn't have changed a thing."

"Why did…you really stay up to wait?" Senel questioned softly, looking at the ground, since he knew—and hated—that his face was getting warmer. He wasn't sure if it was because he felt ashamed for some reason, or…what? Why was he having that reaction? He wasn't embarrassed about anything…was he? Not about Chloe.

"Do you remember that game Norma played when we had that party a while back…." Chloe began with a little smile on her face. She looked like she wanted to laugh, and also looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Senel forgot why he'd looked at the floor and glanced up to see that her face was shaded pink. "The…the….'I Love You' game?"

"I remember," Senel admitted, amazed he was keeping Chloe's gaze. He had no idea what he should be saying or how he should be reacting. He hoped there was nothing he had to say or do, or else Chloe might get angry at him. But she didn't seem angry; she seemed nervous and was twiddling her fingers a little.

"I wished I'd been picked to ask you, or you me….it would have been part of the game, so no one might have thought anything of it…but I would have been saying what I couldn't have otherwise…." Chloe trailed off again, but took a breath and let it out quickly. "Do you…lo…love me?" Senel hesitated for a moment. Chloe glanced at the floor and shuffled her feet, then stiffened in surprise when a hand touched her chin and tilted her head upwards so that she was looking into Senel's gray-blue eyes. "If the person answered the right way but they smiled, they were 'it'." Chloe's heart thumped when Senel nodded understandingly.

"I love you, but I can't smile."

Chloe was smiling back.

* * *

"Mother! I'm home," Niklas announced as he stepped through the front door of his adoptive parent's home. Jay and Creamy were following right behind him, and Jay shut the door quietly. The place was nice—just as big as Niklas's place, and Jay wondered why he'd moved out. There were at least three rooms here, as well as a big kitchen with cherry wood cabinets. The floor was the same wood as the cabinets and covered the whole floor, even the floor upstairs, from what Jay could see of it.

"Niklas? Is that you?" A slightly tired woman's voice called, and from a room across from the kitchen a person stepped out. She was in her mid-to-late forties, and was wearing a red-violet shirt and a tan skirt that went past her knees. The dark red-violet shirt complimented her dark brown hair and brown eyes. Jay nodded respectfully to her, but noted that she had a tired but kind smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, mother. I know it's late." The woman walked up to Niklas and took his face in her hands, then shook her head slowly.

"Not at all, Niklas. You can come here whenever you need to. And…" She looked closely at the young adult. "I can tell something's the matter. Let's sit down and talk about it." Her eyes travelled to Jay, then Creamy, and she gave a small gasp. The Galf wagged her tail quickly and barked. "We _do_ need to talk." Niklas's mother gestured in a friendly way to Jay, and he moved over to a chair after a second's hesitation. Niklas waited until Jay, Creamy, and his mother had gotten situated before sitting down. Before he could say anything for an introduction, his mother smiled kindly at Jay.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. You seem like a nice young man. My name is Xenia."

"Likewise, ma'am. My name is Jay. I'm an acquaintance of Niklas's."

"I'm glad that he's meeting new people, Jay," Xenia acknowledged with a meaningful look at her son. "It seems that you've come from a long way away, too. I just guessed. You dress differently and speak differently than the locals around here." The woman smiled kindly. "Niklas hasn't met anyone outside of Gadoria." Jay nodded once, looking thoughtful, and Xenia looked him over, and then turned her attention to both of them. "Now, you needed to talk to me about something important." Niklas nodded. "What is it?"

"It's about Creamy, mother. She's not sick, but she does have….well…."

"If I may," Jay interrupted, and continued when Xenia nodded at him. "Creamy is going to have puppies in around four more weeks. Niklas was going to ask what we should do to make sure everything goes well." The woman turned her sharp gaze towards her son.

"You know how to take care of Galves. I taught you how." Her gaze softened a bit.

"You did, and I'm glad I learned from you, but still…I thought it would be better to come and ask you. I don't have as much experience as you, and I'm worried about Creamy." Xenia nodded reassuringly.

"Then that's fine. Creamy will be alright, Niklas. Females have been having children for a long, long time." Niklas smiled nervously and nodded as his mother continued with a thoughtful look on her face. "So she found a mate recently, and probably became pregnant five or so weeks ago."

"Probably," Jay replied. "Though we're not sure. I knew that, since the pups were kicking, she was around five weeks along." Xenia nodded approvingly.

"You're correct about that, young man," she told him with a smile. "You seem to know a lot about Galves."

"Thank you, ma'am," Jay stated, shaking his head once, "but I just heard that from a friend of mine. He talks about Galves a lot." Xenia laughed softly.

"He sounds like a good friend, and knowledgeable." Jay's mouth quirked upwards but he didn't say anything. "If she wants to, Creamy can stay here and I'll help when she has her pups, or I'll come to see her at that time." Suddenly the woman sighed and her gaze darkened just slightly. "I'd like to meet your friends…if I may. Senel in particular. Niklas never stopped talking about him, even when I first found him and he was injured so badly he could barely speak." Her gaze pierced Niklas. "Have you talked to him very much?"

"No, I haven't," the person responded, and Jay gave him a sideways glance, his expression vague. "I just met him. I think it was hard to believe that we were…anyway, we should go. They're probably wondering where we…." He corrected himself mid-sentence, "where you and Creamy went." Jay nodded.

"Fine. Let's go." To Niklas's mother, he said politely, "Thank you for your help. We'll need all the help we can get for Creamy."

"Of course," Xenia said with a soft nod and smile as they left. Jay followed Creamy closely as they returned to Niklas's house.

"It's late now," Jay stated, "so we're going to wait until tomorrow to tell them everything. It'll be easier if we're all rested."

"Good idea," Niklas agreed distantly, listening even if it didn't seem like he was, since he was kneeling in front of Creamy and scratching her behind the ears. "Wonder how they'll react."

"Who knows," Jay said, lifting his shoulders. "I'm heading back." Niklas stood up and patted Creamy on the head and she wagged her tail.

"Goodnight," he said, and raised his right arm to wave, but suddenly withdrew his arm and held it behind his back. Jay noticed and narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Goodnight. Thank you for letting us use your home."

"It's fine," Niklas replied. The two Erens began to walk steadily away from each other and Creamy gazed back at Niklas for a moment before padding along after Jay.

* * *

**So, that's how it is when I write romantic scenes….what do you think? I haven't done romantic scenes before. It's new for me….but I know I'm a romantic, at least partly. I just bought a book of love poems by Pablo Neruda. It's funny how I changed because I didn't use to read love poems on purpose.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope the romantic part was good, and not cheesy…or if it was cheesy, hope it was a good cheesy. I got this scene the way I wanted it to be so I just kept it that way.**

**I had the Chloe/Senel scene because I wanted to give them a break from all my drama. I think it was a nice way to make them see they really did feel that way about each other (neither of them are very experienced in relationships. It's funny that Chloe, the slightly shyer one, was the one to confess). Senel and Chloe were kind of embarrassed about admitting how they felt, so they used Norma's to be able to say it. The first time Senel told Chloe he loved her, he was trying to get a point across that Chloe was important to him and he said it impulsively because he was upset that Chloe kept putting herself down...kind of like what the lyrics in Pink's song, "Perfect", are saying.**


	16. Departure

**I don't own the characters or anything else from Tales of Legendia. I just own the characters I made up. Thank you for reading!**

**Reconcile and Departure**

* * *

"Are you going to say anything?" Senel asked Niklas bitingly, his arms crossed. The stormy night had passed; the following day dawned cheerfully, but Senel was anything but that. The whole group seemed a bit subdued, and now anxious because Niklas had returned to his house and unexpectedly told them he had something important to tell them. Norma raised an eyebrow at Senel, then studied Niklas, noting that he was wearing a different outfit today: light brown pants and a blue shirt. Most people in this country wore slightly fancier clothes, but Niklas seemed happy to wear uncomplicated outfits. Not that it was a bad thing but she thought, with a smile, that his style was a little simple. He must not want to be noticed that badly. Those days were over, she observed, seeing that Niklas seemed to be uncomfortable under everyone's questioning gazes.

"It's about Creamy," Niklas blurted, looking up quickly, and Senel's irritated expression dropped immediately; his eyes widened a little with concern.

"What? What's wrong with her?" He asked sharply.

"Nothing," Niklas said quickly, glad he'd said something, but wishing that he'd picked a better way.

"Is she sick?" Harriet spoke up, and Niklas mentally kicked himself and tried again to explain.

"No, not sick in the…usual way….she's…she's…." his gaze drifted back to Creamy. Norma raised her eyebrows at Jay, catching his expression, and elbowed Moses; he gave her an annoyed look as he rubbed his side but noticed she was indicating Jay with subtle hand gestures. Together they looked over to see that their friend was smiling faintly. It looked to them like he might know what was going on, and Norma wished that _someone _would get on with it. Everyone seemed to be getting a little impatient, especially Senel; Niklas wasn't doing a very good job of explaining, nor was he making very much sense.

"Just tell us what's wrong, da—…" He stopped himself from cursing just in time. Will wouldn't hesitate to punish him if he swore in front of Harriet. "Just tell us!"

"Creamy's going to…have pups," Niklas finally muttered, and briefly met Jay's eyes and continued when he frowned and shook his head. "I found out last night." Chloe, Norma, and Shirley gasped, while Moses's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Harriet looked up at Will.

"Puppies?" She looked up at Will, a little excited, but Will looked back at her and cringed inwardly, seeing the question on his daughter's face.

"Are they Giet's?" Moses asked after getting his voice back.

"Ye-yeah…." Senel was staring at Niklas with wide eyes and a taken aback expression. Norma looked at Chloe and Shirley and beamed, then took Senel by the shoulders and laughed.

"I think you're a daddy, Senel!"

"Daddy?" Senel repeated dubiously and Norma looked sheepish but laughed again.

"Maybe an uncle," she corrected herself with a smile. "Giet's the daddy."

"Hey, if anything, _I'm_ the uncle," Moses interjected, causing Jay to roll his eyes heavily. Moses eagerly approached Niklas. "When will she have them?"

"In a couple more weeks….four. I asked my mother." He caught Senel's eye. "My adoptive mother, Xenia."

"Is it safe for Creamy to travel now, Moses?" Senel turned away from Niklas and addressed his friend. Chloe felt a little mix of regret and frustration, and made a mental note to try and persuade Senel to give Niklas at least a bit of a chance. Then if Senel still wanted to leave, she wasn't going to say anything else, but….the female knight glared at the floor and shook her head.

"Uh…yeah," Niklas answered, casting his eyes at the floor as he felt a pang. "She should be fine. My mother said she looked healthy, so…" He looked steadily at Senel's face. "…whenever you want to leave, you can. I'll get your tickets for the ferry, if you want. I have some money saved up." The room was silent for a moment, but Senel spoke and broke the silence.

"That's not necessary," he said briskly, but his tone had the barest catch in it, the only trace that showed he'd been caught slightly off guard by Niklas's attitude, even though he was glad that the person hadn't made a big deal of the situation. "We rented a boat, so we can get back on our own."

"Alright," Niklas agreed, inclining his head a bit. "But if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to come and see you off."

"Go ahead," Senel told him calmly, but his gray-blue eyes were cold. "Do whatever you like."

"You're not going to try and talk to him, Senel?" Harriet demanded. "I didn't come all the way here for you to just ignore him."

"I'm _not_ ignoring him!" Senel couldn't help snapping, and when he saw Harriet flinch and Will's eyes darken, he took a breath and tried to calm down. Shirley looked sad and Chloe closed her eyes, while Norma and Moses exchanged troubled glances. Jay slid his hands inside his pockets and looked at the sky, then withdrew his hands from his pockets and moved towards Creamy to gently pat her behind the ears. "What do you want me to do—give him a hug?" The Iron Eren angrily stepped towards Niklas and grabbed his shirt with both hands. Senel was just a couple inches shorter than him but in his sudden anger was imposing and appeared to tower over the other person. Not wanting to yell in front of everyone more than he already had, Senel forcefully dragged Niklas from the house and yanked the door shut behind him. Slamming him against the wall he glared into the older person's green eyes. "You say that I can just go, but at the same time, you want me to stay!"

"Yes, I do." Niklas muttered. "But you don't live here. You have a life somewhere else. Maybe if we'd grown up together you would have moved away on your own."

"You're talking like it's so easy!" Senel barked, lifting Niklas by his shirt and then shoving him against the wall. "I wasn't just living an easy life, like you! If I hadn't been taken by Vaclav I never would have gone to the Village of the Ferines, never would have led Vaclav there, so Stella never would have left. I never would have killed Vaclav. You and everyone else would have been killed by the Nerifes Cannon and he'd still be out there."

"Who knows what would have gone differently?" Niklas questioned with a sigh. "No one. It's impossible to tell. I was saying what I wished could have been true just now, but no one could have lived good lives with Vaclav around."

"We're going to leave," Senel told Niklas in a calmer, but resolute, tone.

"I'd like to pay Stella respects," Niklas told Senel with a contrite smile.

"No."

"Then please give her my respects," Niklas said, rubbing his head and glancing at the sky. "Like I said, that'd be the least I could do. Because I think you're right about one thing….everyone in town would have been killed. Stella saved us. I _can_ make sure they know that." Senel blinked once, taken aback.

"You'd…." He began, momentarily at a loss for what to say. "You'd tell them?"

"Whether you wanted me to or not." Senel let go of Niklas and stepped away, still angry but less so than before. "People should know the truth here."

"Creamy might come with us back to Werites Beacon," Senel muttered, and Niklas's face lifted.

"She'd be happier. Giet's there, and she'd be happier with you, too, and everyone else. Especially Harriet, I think. They looked really close when I first saw them here."

"I know. But we wouldn't be able to see her. Galves eventually all go wild even if they live with someone. It happened to Giet and he lives in a place called The Quiet Lands, or else he'd attack people. Creamy could become that way soon, too." Niklas's eyes widened.

"I didn't know something like that could happen. So…" Senel glanced over at the older person.

"That's also why I want to leave quickly." He sighed. "I didn't handle things right. I got angry." Niklas suddenly noticed something on each of Senel's arms: on his right, a long vertical mark that was a pale pink color and on the other, a wrapping of bandages almost all the way up to his elbow.

"What are those?" He asked, and Senel didn't understand what he meant for a moment until he saw where Niklas was looking.

"Nothing."

"It looks like something attacked you."

"I said, nothing," Senel repeated warningly, and Niklas pulled up his right sleeve.

"I knew what it was. I should have." Senel saw a light pink mark from Niklas's wrist to his elbow. "Before Creamy was used to me—this was about a year ago—I tried to get close to her and help because she was hurt, but I tried too soon." He let the blue sleeve fall back down and cover the scar up.

"She was just scared," Senel realized tersely.

"And hurt. I knew better but couldn't stop myself. I was fine but could have gotten her in trouble. No one saw what happened. I told them an Egg Bear attacked me." He shrugged. "Anyway…I found her injured after the Cannon fired. It made the monsters nearby go crazy, so she might have been attacked by one of them." Senel listened with a distant expression. "I took her food for a while until she seemed better, and one day she came into town and started following me around, and she came into my house a while after that, and she stayed from then on. I came home from work one day and couldn't find her. She usually went off on her own and came back, but this time she didn't. I thought she'd gone back to the forest but the next time I saw her she was with Harriet." Senel threw Niklas a puzzled, but wary look.

"How'd she find me?" Niklas shook his head.

"This is a guess," he declared. "I told her a lot of things. I talked to her before I went to work in the morning, and when I came back at night, and we would go on walks when I didn't have to work. I, well….talked to her about you the most. She knew your name. Maybe she knew your scent too. Again, it's just a guess, but maybe. I don't know why she'd leave to look for you…I can't explain that…but Galves are pretty smart."

"They are," Senel agreed.

"I heard a rumor that Vaclav wasn't in this country, or even on this continent, anymore and wondered if you weren't either. Knowing you might be somewhere was better than thinking you might be d…lost." Senel shook his head and Niklas looked awkward, but his expression became composed again as he continued. "Maybe Creamy heard people talking about Vaclav, and the Legacy, and I talked to Creamy about those things a lot…." Niklas gave Senel an almost contrite smile, "…and about you. I felt like she was the only one I could mention it to. I'd heard a bit about the Legacy, and even more information about it came here after the Cannon fired. Lots of people wanted to cancel trade with it because they thought the attack had been on purpose. Things were bad here for a while; the mayor of this town was criticized a lot…and she actually ended up having to resign."

"Huh." Senel crossed his arms and sighed. People would have been scared and angry if a crisis like the Nerifes Cannon firing had happened in Werites Beacon (even though the damage would likely have been a lot worse) but they never would have wanted Madam Musette or Will to step down, let alone leave. "What's the new mayor like?"

"Not bad." Niklas lowered his voice, biting his lip in hesitation even though his eyes showed he meant what he was going to say next. "To be honest, though…he wouldn't have held up in a crisis like that. Not as well as the previous mayor did. His intentions are good, and he also wants what's best for the town, but he's not good at keeping calm or acting under pressure. Tausha, the former mayor, moved away from here after she stepped down, and most people think she'll never come back."

"So Creamy heard about me from you," Senel muttered in thought, "and also learned Vaclav's name, and about the Legacy…and she heard one or both of those names and might have followed the people who said them onto a ship or ferry that arrived on the Legacy?"

"Yes," Niklas answered, nodding. "No one can talk to her, so we'll never really know the true details…that's just my theory." Senel turned on his heel and was about to walk back inside Niklas's house to gather everyone up to leave, but stopped when a hand closed around his right arm.

"Hey!" The Eren snapped, yanking his arm from Niklas's grasp, and turned with a glare.

"I want to see you off. You're leaving now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we are." Niklas put something into Senel's hands and he studied it; it was a folded piece of paper. He opened it and scanned the paper with his blue-gray eyes. "That's information about how to take care of Creamy and her pups. My mother wrote it all last night."

"Oh. Thanks." Senel half-smiled at the paper and felt relieved; he had thought that having Moses around would be enough to ensure that everything went alright but at the same time he didn't think the beast tamer knew every single thing about this situation, and the bandit tended to overreact sometimes. Senel glanced up and stopped smiling when he saw Niklas was staring at him and offering his right hand. After a moment Senel took it.

"It's enough for me to know you're alright." Niklas and Senel shook hands firmly once and quickly let go; the older person looked had a satisfied look on his face. "I wish we could see each other more, but hey…I know better than to ask for that now."

"…Enough already," Senel told him uncomfortably, frustrated, before turning swiftly and heading inside to tell everyone it was time to go. Niklas turned and began a slow walk towards the harbor.

* * *

**Note: Thanks for reading, and for the reviews to far. I really like them, even if they're explaining why the story's bad, but I love them especially if they explain why—if at all—the story's good. ;) I know it's been a while since I updated so sorry about that but I'm not done with it yet. Almost done maybe, but I'm still working on it.**


	17. Two Roads

**Alright! You excited for a new chapter? I am! I had it on my old computer that's really old and really slow. I freaked out a little when it wasn't on my current computer but I remembered and saved it to a flash drive. I'm getting almost to the end of the story. I never wanted this one to be very long but it's getting close to twenty chapters which is cool.**

**In other news, look at this:**

**自転車が大好きです。****(I love bikes)**

**猫も大好きです。****(I also love cats)**

**私のストーリーを読んでくれてありがとうございます！****(Thank you for reading my story!)**

**I can type on my computer in Japanese now, which means I could write a story in Japanese if I wanted to (but I'm about five years too early to do that). Anyway, typing in Japanese is helpful since I'm taking Japanese and it makes homework more fun and makes it look neater. I'm better at typing than I am at writing since my handwriting in any language is messy. The dictionary that I got after switching my computer to Japanese is cool. It references people sometimes and even has a little explanation about them. I never thought a computer dictionary could do that.  
I don't own the story or the characters except the ones I make up. That honor goes to the mighty creator of the Tales series.**

* * *

**Two Roads**

Senel stared over the wheel out at the sea, scanning the blue horizon for signs of the Legacy. It had been a couple hours since leaving Gadoria's capital, and he sensed it wouldn't be long now before he and his friends saw the moving continent. With luck, anyway. Since it moved, sometimes it took days to locate. Shirley was resting down in the cabin, but the sea breeze had been calm a while ago so she'd been up on deck enjoying the ocean scenery with Harriet and Norma. Moses was currently following Jay around the deck, ignoring or just oblivious to the ninja's hints that he didn't want to talk. He was chatting about Giet and Creamy, and the female Galf was curled up lazily just off to the side of the cabin entrance. From the moment Chloe had stepped on board the boat she'd headed straight for the cabin and taken refuge there, none too happy about being on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Will was helping Senel keep watch for signs of bad weather. Senel studied the horizon; there were large, puffy clouds far off on the horizon, and a storm could possibly be kicking up in another couple of hours, but Senel wasn't worried yet. He wanted to find the Legacy quickly, though, for everyone's sake—especially Shirley and Chloe's. The skills he'd learned as an Alliance Marine hadn't deserted him, helping him even on land and definitely on the sea, so half an hour later he spotted a large shape waiting on the horizon. The land ship was small now, but by closely observing the scenery around it Senel could tell it was gradually moving towards them.

"Will, there," Senel announced, and the historian glanced up and over towards the starboard side of the boat where Senel was pointing and saw the ship was slightly north-east from where they were. "Could you go let Shirley and Chloe know?"

"Careful when we start getting closer. We might not be on the right side to reach Port On-Rage."

"Got it," Senel answered, eyes trained on the shape of the Legacy, and he gave a little sigh. It had only been a very short time that they'd been away from home, but it felt like ages, especially with all the things that had happened. He had a family member that he now knew, and could visit if he wanted to.

But now…he'd just live the way he wanted. It hadn't been all that long since he and his friends had settled everything-defeated Vaclav, said goodbye to Stella, and then Grune after Schwartz and her shadows had been defeated. For now Senel just wanted to live where he was and figure out more of what he wanted from life. No…that wasn't it. He knew what he wanted, and that was to experience life more now that everything was settled. Someday he might go back to Gadoria and pay Niklas a visit, but it wouldn't be soon.

It was strange to think about, and Senel looked absently piloted the boat for a moment as he thought. He and Chloe had just explained their feelings to one another and that…was one important thing he wanted to experience.

"Senel?" Chloe asked, approaching the male Eren with an unhappy look on her face. Senel jumped and spun the wheel, startled, then grabbed it and got back on course.

"Chloe!" He blustered, still startled, and Chloe widened her eyes slightly, smiling a little with concern. "Hey, Chloe…how are you?"

"I'm ready to go home. Will said it won't be long now." She sighed, and for a moment the unhappy, seasick look vanished from her face. "And then…" The knight smiled at Senel.

"And then….?" He prompted her, a little nervously, and Chloe's smile vanished as she turned her head to give the vast expanse of ocean a look of pure loathing.

"Then I'm never going out to sea again. I tried to get used to water at Lumen Spring, but it never worked. I'm not going to be upset anymore—I'm just going to deal with it." She didn't explain that she had actually gotten into the water at Lumen Spring and almost knew how to swim. If Senel could have watched her, he would have seen that the 'almost' was as good as actually being able to swim. Chloe was just underestimating herself in her mind because she was so nervous around water. Better to under estimate than over estimate, Chloe often told herself.

"Oh," Senel said, relieved, and gave Chloe a look of approval. "That sounds like a good idea. Good going."

"I thought so too…" Chloe murmured, sighing, and suddenly held her stomach, grimacing as she turned pale. "I just wanted to say hi. Thanks for driving." With that, the knight took off and headed below deck again, but stopped and turned to look at Senel, who had returned to piloting the boat. As she stared at him, something like fondness lit up in her eyes before she turned and clambered down the stairs to the cabin.

Senel frowned at the wheel as he steered it automatically, feeling bad for Chloe; he'd never been seasick and was glad because it was obviously unpleasant. Senel mentally noted that he had a new reason to get home quickly—so Chloe could rest and recover, too. He'd been pushing the boat as hard as it could go the past few hours. A few times, Senel had wondered if he was trying to get away from Gadoria because of the memories that were there. Ever since he'd gotten to the mainland something had made him feel trapped. After Solon had been dealt with, he and Moses had sworn to be like—or actually be—Jay's brothers, but Senel didn't know what it really felt like to be a brother. The only way he knew how to act was be a friend. Moses had said that's how being siblings should be—like friends, but friends you're always around, whether you got along with them or not.

None of the group really knew what having a brother was like. Senel glanced skyward and thought for a moment. Maybe Will had a brother but he'd never talked about it. Knowing Niklas was Senel's blood brother—_possibly _his blood brother—made him feel just a little puzzled. It was nice, somehow, to think about the fake relationships Will had created between everyone when they'd arrived at Gadoria.

Senel had started his life by living with individuals not genetically related to him in any way. If he'd lived with Orerines, they'd have been the same race, but not related by blood. Senel had lived with the Ferines people, who weren't related to him and were a whole different race at that, not even of the world Senel was from. As a child he hadn't cared a bit about that, because they'd treated him like one of their own after a while. He was still that way, not caring about who he knew or where they came from. Now anyone could be family to him. He'd learned that from Stella, from Shirley, and then from Moses. He'd never been playing house. Senel adopted anyone he saw that might take him in and be kind to him, though he'd hidden all of those feelings behind wariness until he decided he could trust them.

Senel thought that the barriers he'd put up had fallen, but when he met Niklas they'd shot right up again without his realizing it. The way Senel could easily let people in had been corrupted by his new ability to mistrust people—he expected there to be a catch in offered kindness now. This hadn't entirely been brought on by Vaclav—it had been brought on after fleeing the Village of the Ferines, after he'd had to protect Shirley and himself or else risk capture. No one could be trusted. The barriers were only gone when he was around his friends because they were people he knew well and trusted deeply.

Senel hadn't trusted any of his current friends upon their first meeting, of course, but after being forced to fight alongside them, and help them, slowly he'd changed—he'd started to care about his new friends and now couldn't imagine how it would be if they weren't together.

So when Senel had met Niklas….

Niklas had immediately begun declaring the wildest things about his relationship to Senel and it had been too much to wrap his head around. Harriet had believed Niklas, but something was stopping Senel from doing the same thing. The situation with Niklas was over now though; he and his friends were returning to Werites Beacon.

If Senel's friends had been watching him carefully steer the boat around the Legacy they wouldn't see any of his thoughts; they'd only see concentration—nothing emotional in his eyes or face to hint at what his mind was going through.

Almost.

Chloe had come back upstairs to see how close they were to the Legacy and to talk to Senel; she'd noticed right away something was going on with him. Glancing across the deck, Chloe spied Jay and Creamy standing near each other, and his indigo eyes met hers for a moment and she knew in that instant he could tell Senel had something on his mind too. They wouldn't bring it up for a little while, though, and Creamy of course couldn't say anything about Senel's predicament.

"Shirl, C," Norma called to the cabin before she clambered down the stairs to get her friends. Chloe gave a tiny gasp and fled back down the stairs as Norma approached. "We're back. You can come up now."

"Alright," a slightly tired voice responded and a moment later the blond young woman appeared at the top of the stairs with Chloe walking behind her. "It's good to be back," Shirley said, a little weakly, but was smiling as she and Norma crossed the deck and watched the sailors of Port On-Rage spot their vessel and throw ropes for Will and Moses to tie off while Senel steered the craft carefully towards the pier.

"We'll take it from here," one of the sailors called with a wave as he tied the ropes off, and Norma recognized him as one of the men who'd been nearby when they'd rented the boat to go to Gadoria. He caught her eye, and she waved with a friendly smile on her face, then followed Shirley as she crossed the plank and reached the pier. Will helped Harriet across the wooden plank, and Chloe—being aided by Senel, who discreetly encouraged her not to look down at the water—came next. Moses and Jay were last, and Creamy was in the middle. The bandit cast the female Galf a look of concern and stared towards Senel as he chewed his bottom lip.

"Moses?" Jay asked quietly, not looking at the man, as if he could sense his expression. Moses shook his head.

"I need ta tell him something…it's important." Jay glanced down at Creamy, then back up and finally made eye contact with his friend.

"Wait a moment," he murmured, looking at Senel, who was patting Chloe's back as she got over her seasickness. Moses also looked at the two and gave a little smirk. Creamy brushed up against his right hand and wagged her tail, causing the bandit to stroke her ears, hesitatingly at first and then more contentedly. Creamy's eyes closed halfway and she wagged her tail lazily, enjoying the petting. Moses sighed; he didn't want to touch her, for he felt that if he did he'd never be able to leave her, and yet he hadn't been able to stop himself from embracing Giet all those years ago at the moment of the reddish-furred Galf's departure.

"I'm fine now, Senel….thanks," Chloe was saying with a brave smile. "I meant it though. I'm never going back to the sea again." Senel laughed then held out his arms to Chloe as she stepped away from him, making sure she was steady enough to stand on her own.

"It's still, well, funny to hear you call me that." Chloe gave him a sharp look of teasing and Senel paused in the middle of smiling at her.

"Is there another name you want to be called? If not I can think of one."

"And you don't hold back," Senel sighed, but not in annoyance. His smile was back in place. "I meant that you used to hold yourself back…not just because of how you'd address people, but because of other things…you were confident but…seemed to think you didn't deserve to be here." The female knight was staring as Senel continued to speak in quiet tones so the others wouldn't overhear. "And, Chloe, you do. I don't want to hear you saying that you don't."

"W-what this…all of a sudden…." Chloe stammered, turning quickly to hide her face turning red. "I'm going home, alright?" She murmured, turning her head slightly so she could be heard, but not enough so that Senel could see her face. "I'm tired."

"Alright," Senel told her, nodding once, but wondered if he'd said something wrong.

"See you later."

"See you." Chloe didn't look back as she walked off quickly but felt Senel's gaze following her all the same, and her heart tugged. She wanted to look back but also wanted to leave for a while to sort herself out.

Senel watched Chloe and was about to walk after her—even though she could handle the monsters along the way to Werites Beacon, he wanted to be sure she got there safely—he felt a tap on his left shirtsleeve and turned to see Moses looking at him. Jay was waiting just behind Moses, listening quietly. "What?" Senel asked, feeling a hint of urgency, but waited for them to speak.

"It's about Creamy, Senel," Moses stated, also looking a little anxious. "Let's get her back to Werites Beacon. Female Galves have a bit more tendency to go wild earlier than the males…especially pregnant ones."

"Because they feel protective?" Senel questioned, already moving to leave Port-On Rage. Shirley, Will, Harriet, and Norma followed quickly behind, having had this explained to them already.

"Right," Moses replied, then looked around suddenly, as if he'd forgotten something. "Has anyone seen Creamy? She was right with me." The group halted in their tracks and glanced around, but the Galf was nowhere to be seen. A quick search of the port found them still with no leads as to her location.

"She could have followed Chloe," Harriet suggested helpfully but Moses seemed to be anxious at this statement. "She likes her."

"Let's go," Will suggested authoritatively, and the group automatically nodded and set off.

At a light walk, it took around ten minutes to reach Werites Beacon, but Chloe had set off at a power walk. She wasn't sure why, but she felt embarrassed and unhappy at her recent interaction with Senel. Her mind was a jumble of confused thoughts, and her being was unsure of how to deal with their changing relationship even though she liked the change. A sniffing and whining noise made Chloe draw her sword instinctively and whirl around, but she relaxed and lowered her weapon when she saw that it was only Creamy. The Galf had been following her quietly, whining when she hadn't been noticed. "It's you, Creamy…don't sneak up on me like that." She smiled and began to approach the Galf, but stopped dead when the creature growled and crouched down, her ears flat and teeth bared. "What's the matter?" Chloe asked nervously as she sheathed her sword. "I'm sorry I startled you. I thought you were a monster following me." Creamy kept growling, but didn't move, and the knight was beginning to wish she'd never drawn her sword on the Galf. "I didn't want to hurt you," she said calmly, but her heart was pounding. "I promise. But I thought…" The young woman trailed off as she realized this exchange had reminded her of another time—the time when she'd been standing before Senel with her sword drawn. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, but she had stabbed her sword right through his middle, on purpose, but not without regret. That regret had intensified later, since when she'd attacked Senel, her mind had been focused on another purpose—one of revenge. So she'd cast him aside, walked calmly past the young man even though he'd been bleeding to death right next to her.

"Oh, god…oh god…" Chloe gasped, staring at her sword. She drew it again, slowly, and gazed at it. "What did I…do…?"

"Chloe!" A voice called out, breaking through the barriers going up in the knight's mind.

"Senel, wait!" Moses's voice cautioned while grabbing Senel's arms to pull him back. "No sudden movements."

"Chloe." Senel stepped forward a careful pace after Moses let his arms go. "Listen to Moses. Move slowly."

"What's wrong with her?" Chloe stammered, the sword rattling as her arms quivered.

"She might be going wild now…" Moses explained urgently. "And because she wants to protect her pups, she's easily upset. We need to get home, quick." Chloe nodded, and took careful steps towards her friends, but caught sight of Senel and got a flash of his face, pain-filled and stunned instead of encouraging like it actually was now, and she froze again. Her stricken mind was seeing him the way he'd looked after being stabbed by her all that time ago. Chloe's arms began to quiver worse than before and her sword finally fell from her hands to land on the hard dusty ground with a clatter. Creamy growled loudly and jumped closer to the knight, who stared at Creamy with shock-dulled eyes. The Galf let another growl loose and crouched a final time before springing again. Moses let out an exclamation and Will shoved Harriet into Shirley's arms before taking a run forward. Shirley covered her eyes, Jay and Moses rushed forward, and everyone else froze. Chloe thudded to the ground, landing roughly a few feet away from where she'd been standing previously, and her eyes were still glazed in shock. "Senel! You…."

"Nobody move," Senel ordered quietly, his voice not the least bit pained. Jay gestured to Chloe and she stood shakily, then tiptoed over to the young man, eyes on the Galf, but Creamy wasn't paying her any mind. Jay took Chloe's hands as she reached him and he gave her a little push towards Shirley, who caught the knight as she finally sank to her knees. Harriet approached Chloe worriedly but was about to glance over towards Senel when Chloe stopped her and stood up again, and looked. Senel's hands were on either side of Creamy's head as if he was petting her, but her fangs were bared, revealing the hidden dangerous side to her normally calm appearance, and her claws were flecked with red from slashing across the left side of Senel's face. Chloe hugged herself and began shaking, but she felt Shirley and Harriet move up beside her. "You want to go see Giet?" Senel asked, looking up at Creamy. "You want to go back home, don't you. We're almost there. Everything's alright, Creamy." The Galf growled but the volume had gone down and her jaws were beginning to close. "That's right. Let's go now." Creamy stepped off of Senel a moment later, allowing him to sit and then stand up. A tiny wince crossed his face but it came and went so quickly no one noticed it. He reached slowly out with his right hand, watching carefully to see how Creamy would react. Her ears had come forward but her tail was wagging slightly and she wasn't growling or pulling her lips back, so he continued and touched her on the head. "Come on." He turned carefully and began walking towards Werites Beacon and felt Creamy brush up against his right flank. She had no trace of anger now, and even seemed to be acting a little puppy-like with excitement now as if Senel was taking her for a walk.

Chloe walked with Shirley, who was supporting her, and looked at her sword lying in the dirt. It was being left behind, and she didn't feel like retrieving it now. She needed it, but doubted trying to get it now was a good idea, but Chloe suddenly thought that if she never went back to get it….good riddance.

* * *

Moses stepped off the elevator and let out a deep breath through his nostrils. "Done," he announced, and Shirley nudged Chloe, who met the other woman's eyes briefly, then looked away. Harriet was back at Will's house, having gotten tired from the trip. Jay was hovering silently nearby, his eyes looking elsewhere, but his ears taking in everything they needed. Norma had just gotten back from visiting Senel and approached her friend now with an encouraging smile.

"Senel's fine, Chloe…Shirley healed him. You can't tell anything happened." The was an uncomfortable pause; then Norma added, "Don't you want to go check on him though?"

"I…don't know if I can…" She murmured, shaking her head. "This was my…"

"Listen, Chloe…" Moses began, crossing his arms with another sigh. "I got attacked by Giet plenty of times and that was when I hadn't done anything to make him mad. When I did make him mad, he let me know, an' sometimes made me pay for it…what I'm tryin' to say is…" Moses quickly tried to get to the point. "Accidents happen, especially when people are close to Galves. Maybe….don't blame yourself for this. Got it?" The young man hesitated, then quickly added before he could change his mind, "And I can see what else is botherin' ya. Senel got you outta the way before Creamy hurt you. I don't think he minded that one bit." His eyes met hers knowingly. "Know what that means?"

"He's too kind for his own good," Chloe responded bitterly, and Shirley gave her a sad look.

"No," Moses corrected with a shake of his head. "That's not what it means. It means he cares about ya. I think you should go see him." Norma was nodding emphatically, and Chloe gave her a little glare, and the young woman responded with a sigh and shrug.

"Red's right. Come on, C! Senny'll be happy to see you!" Chirpily Norma approached Chloe and pinched her cheeks. "Has he ever gotten mad at you before?" The knight pulled her friend's hands away and winced. "Not really, right? Not for something like this. He'll just be happy you're alright." Against her will Chloe turned red but couldn't bring herself to cover her face. She looked at the ground for a moment, then lifted her head and met Norma's eyes.

"I'll go see him," the young woman muttered, then looked up hopefully. "Are you coming?" Norma nodded energetically.

"Yeah!" She squeaked when Moses elbowed her sharply. Shirley jumped at the noise Norma made and frowned at Moses, who lifted his arms sheepishly. "I mean, no...I already went to his house to see him. He was fine, but I think he wanted to see you so...yeah."

"Senel went home after we took Creamy to the Quiet Lands. He seemed pretty quiet." Moses's shoulders slumped and he sighed. Chloe chewed her lip and crossed her arms, then set off. Norma was about to follow anyway but Moses held out a hand and gently stopped her. After a slight pout, the Crystal Eren nodded in understanding and smiled softly at Shirley, who smiled back and looked gratefully at her friend. She had just come back with Norma from Senel's house, too, and had made sure he was completely healed but she was still worried. If someone was with Senel, then she'd feel better. And she knew all that was going on between them, and she was finally happy about it because she knew she didn't want to be anyone other than Senel's sister. She knew now, too, what the sea had been trying to tell them. Shirley thought once that it had given its blessing for her to get married to Senel, but now she knew that it had blessed the relationship they'd had as brother and sister. She wondered why no one had known the sea did that, too, but there was a lot people-even the Ferines-didn't know about the sea.

"You alright, Shirl?" Norma asked bracingly, and Shirley nodded brightly.

"I am. Thank you for worrying, Norma." She smiled and took the other girl's arm. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm feeling better and suddenly got really hungry."

"Alright, now you're talking. Me too!" Norma laughed.

"Hey, I'm kinda hungry, too...mind if I..." Moses said, but the pair had already walked off. "Wait!" He called, running after them, while Jay chuckled to himself and followed nonchalantly after them.

* * *

The puffy white thunderheads were starting to disperse and the weather was fairly clear and sunny. The warm air lifted Chloe's spirits a little but she was focusing on making her way to Senel's house instead of the weather. She approached his front door and knocked three times, then waited quietly, and let out a breath when she realized she'd been holding it. A couple moments later the door opened and Senel was standing in the doorway.

"Hey!" Chloe said brightly, stepping into the room, then back out again but Senel gestured for her to come inside. "How are you?"

"Fine. Shirley healed me in no time," Senel answered, fingering the left side of his face briefly. Chloe took a breath.

_Make it perfect, Chloe._

"I wanted to see you first and tell you something." Senel's nodded seriously. "First, I'm sorry. I'm glad you're alright, but I'm sorry I froze and caused the mess in the first place."

"Chloe—" Senel began, but stopped when Chloe shook her head at him.

"Just let me say this, please." The knight took a deep breath. Senel closed the front door after Chloe walked inside, and faced her, listening intently. "When I pulled out my sword a while ago I remembered the night when I attacked you. So I froze up and couldn't do anything." It was something of a relief for Chloe to get these words out. "This time I was scared of being near you because I might hurt you, in a different way maybe, but I was afraid of hurting you all the same." The young woman allowed herself to smile and realized her limbs were shaking a little. "I'm not good at this…I'm not good at any of it…" Chloe swallowed as she fought back the emotion rising in her throat. "But I want to be near you, even though I don't know what to do with myself." Senel held Chloe's gaze and smiled as he stood and approached her. Chloe jumped when he lifted his hands and wiped at something on her cheeks, and only then did she feel the wetness.

"You mean, how to change so you can deal with new things?" Chloe thought about it, then nodded hesitantly.

"I think so," she replied in a mumble, and looked down only to have Senel lift her chin and gaze into her eyes. She stared back, seeing an emotion in them that made her understand Senel wanted to convey something important.

"You don't need to change," Senel said in a gentle tone, but was looking at her seriously. "You're perfect as you are now."

_Perfect…I know I wanted to make this perfect…but he actually thinks I am? _Chloe trembled and the next thing she knew, her arms had wrapped around Senel and she'd pulled him into a hug.

"Chloe…" Senel began, then sighed heavily. "I didn't want to bring how I felt up." Chloe pulled back and stared at him. "Guess I was scared too…that I'd mess things up."

"But…you told me," the female knight said, feeling confused, wondering if she had done or was doing something wrong.

"I couldn't keep quiet," Senel explained, and looked down, but not quickly enough to hide his slightly red face. Chloe's brown eyes widened, but then she smiled. She'd always been the one to blush first, not Senel. Come to think of it, Senel had never blushed, not that she knew of anyway, or could remember. He hadn't even blushed when Moses, shortly after he'd met Senel, had asked "how far he'd gone with Shirley" before he'd known that the two were siblings. He had gotten more angry than embarrassed, protective feelings for his sister having been stirred up.

Senel almost always seemed to have a tight lid on his feelings, even when he took time to explain them bluntly to people. Chloe realized for the first time that explaining feelings in words could never be as good or effective as seeing the same feelings on someone's face. An expression had much more depth and meaning than words to Chloe, though she'd never realized that until now. So although she was bursting with embarrassment and anxiety on the inside, she didn't hesitate to stretch up onto her toes and put her lips to Senel's. Actions also worked well to convey feelings.

Senel had been about to say something, but his words were cut off instantly when Chloe pressed her mouth to his and wrapped her arms around his waist. His eyes widened in shock for a moment, but then slowly closed as he lifted his arms and put them over Chloe's shoulders, gently pressing his hands to her back to draw her closer. The two got used to the kiss, only stopping for a moment to pull back and gaze at each other before their lips met again. Chloe repositioned her hands and brought them up to cradle the back of Senel's head, and for the first time felt a little wisp of pleasure at the fact that she was touching him. She'd always thought that his hair looked spiky and coarse, but she found it was surprisingly soft and smooth; her fingers slid right through it with hardly any resistance. Suddenly Chloe realized that Senel's hands were still on her back and hadn't travelled to any off-limit places.

Thinking this, Chloe's face flushed bright red and she felt Senel shift a little against her body, and as if an unspoken signal had run through both of their minds, they reluctantly broke off the kiss and watched each other closely. Chloe was smiling faintly, her face still bright red, and Senel's eyes widened again in surprise and his mouth was slightly open, as if he was still caught in the moment. Chloe slid her left hand through Senel's hair and with a slight smile started to bring her mouth towards his lips again. She'd never kissed anyone before like this and despite her inexperience with kissing knew that she wanted to do it again. What encouraged this thought was the fact that Senel appeared to have liked her kiss; he was staring at her, and his open-mouth had closed into a faint smile. This helped ease her nerves a little; she wasn't the only one enjoying the situation. Their mouths locked together once again, this time Senel had been the one to lean in and instigate it, and they were slightly more used to kissing this time. Senel wrapped his arms a little tighter around Chloe, and Chloe hugged Senel closer and felt her body warming up she pressed against him.

The two stopped kissing to get a breath of air, and panting a little, they gazed again at each other wonderingly. Their expressions seems almost alarmed as they rewound what they'd just done in their heads.

"I'm still feeling kind of seasick…I'm going to rest for a while. See you later." Chloe paused, her face losing its redness as she thought hard about what she would say next and how she was going to say it. She'd planned it and tried to stick with her mental script as much as possible. "We could...do something later. Maybe go to the beach. I want to, um...show you something." Senel nodded, interested.

"Sounds good. We can go tomorrow if you're feeling better."

"Yeah. Tomorrow." _The sooner, the better, or else I'll probably chicken out. _Chloe noticed Senel seemed a little curious about what she wanted to show him, so she tried to smile encouragingly. "It's not anything strange." _What did I mean? I'm going to try and swim! That's a little strange, at least for me!_

"Okay," Senel said, and raised his eyebrows for a second until a thought struck him. _Why would she want to go to the beach, of all places? _He wondered. _You can't do much there except go swimming. _Suddenly he understood and tried not to smile. "What time should we meet there tomorrow?" He asked, trying to sound casually interested.

"Maybe eleven?"

"In the morning?" Senel asked, and received an uneasy nod.

"I wouldn't—" Chloe said tersely, about to say 'swim in the dark', but she choked the words back and started again. Senel looked at her curiously with a knowing smile, which she noticed but wouldn't understand the significance of until later. "Yes, in the morning."

"Which beach?" Senel asked Chloe, remembering that there were a lot of beaches on the Legacy. Chloe had thought about this and replied with certainty. After trying to swim in Lumen Spring several times with some, but not much, progress Chloe had decided to use the beach as a resource to learn how to swim. She liked it because it had shallows and because the water was clear enough to see the bottom even out in the deeper waters.

"The place where Will said you and Shirley first washed up on the Legacy."

"Alright," Senel agreed after a pause during which he briefly thought back to that time. "I'll try to be there early."

"You don't have to hurry," Chloe insisted awkwardly, shifting her feet, despite knowing that giving Senel a chance to be late was the same as giving him a chance to oversleep. "I'll need to get ready so...take your time." Again Senel tried not to let his face break into a grin.

"Okay," he agreed, and Chloe sighed in relief.

"But don't be too late, now that you mention it." If he was even a few minutes late, she might lose her nerve standing at the beach, alone, with all that water there. Chloe wanted the meeting place to be the beach because the ocean had varying degrees of depth, while Lumen Spring hardly had any shallow places. But the female knight was still afraid of water no matter how deep it was. That was why Chloe wanted Senel there—to see her if she did well, and to help her if she didn't...but to be safe she was going to try not to swim in water that was too deep tomorrow.

"I won't be late," Senel promised, and watched as Chloe smiled appreciatively and happily at him, then turned and left. The smile she gave had made his heart beat harder, and he wondered at the feeling before walking into his kitchen to make something for lunch.

* * *

**Note: It's not over yet! I just wanted to end it in a random place. There might be just a couple more chapters left until it's over…I'll see. Hope you're all still enjoying it. Feel free to leave a comment with anything you want to say, just be constructive and tell me why something was good or bad.**

**It's been a good challenge development the romance between Senel and Chloe (who I seem to have given Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)...what do you think about them being together so far? There's a chapter coming up next that'll be mostly about them because of the swimming thing and because I suddenly had the idea of making something special happen. And nothing that will change the rating of the story.  
My idea of Lumen Spring is that it doesn't have any shallow places. Or at least I made it that way for the sake of the story. Only in fiction can I be master of nature.  
I can't believe I started writing this in 2008 and now it's 2012. I'm especially happy because the world hasn't ended which means I can keep writing more! :) I checked this chapter over for mistakes and I think I got them all but if anyone sees any, let me know and I will fix them!  
Thanks for sticking with me that long!**


	18. Blessing

**It's been a while hasn't it? I guess I got busy, but I had this chapter ready. Sorry it took me so long. I think I got busy, and was trying to edit the chapter to make sure it was good enough. I'll probably edit it a lot more, though. I usually do.  
In this chapter, I threw in a lot of my theories about what happened a certain part of the game, so it might be far-fetched but I decided to just go with it. I have the chapter the way I want, but I'm still kind of nervous about it, but here you go. Hope you like it!**

**I don't own Tales of Legendia or any of the characters except Creamy, Xenia, Tyri, Anali and Niklas, though I kinda kicked Niklas out of the story early, huh...**

* * *

**Blessing**

Chloe shivered, but only slightly, as she dipped her toes into the cool surf. She had taken off her blue jacket and left her dark brown suit on. It was made of a material that was waterproof, and one that stretched easily when she moved, so it was a good thing to wear for someone like her who was saw a lot of battles. It held up well in the water, too. She folded the jacket carefully and set it beside her sword, which she'd placed on a flat rock near the sea cliff. Before going to bed last night she'd laid awake, half-hoping that the weather would suddenly be stormy the next day, and that she wouldn't have to swim. She and Senel would be able to do something else together, and she could swim another time. But the day had dawned clear and warm, so Chloe had just steeled herself and navigated her way to the beach. After leaving Werites Beacon, she'd searched for her sword in the place where she thought she'd dropped it, and after a short search had found it among the grass. It seemed to be in good shape so she sheathed it and continued on towards the beach. It was a walk that didn't take too long, only ten minutes or so, and since the weather was nice Chloe had little to complain about as she strolled along. There weren't a lot of monsters out today; she'd only encountered a wolf and an egg bear, and the monsters had fled after seeing her. She didn't mind the rain now, unless it was a complete deluge, but sunny days were still her favorite so even if she wound up not swimming it would have just been a nice day to go to the beach and enjoy the weather. It also wasn't a bad day to enjoy time alone with Senel.

Chloe shook water from her feet and stepped back into the sand, thinking back to what she'd said yesterday. _Did I ask him on a...could this be considered...a...date?_ If Chloe had seen the possibility of her invitation being a date, she probably never would have asked Senel in the first place. But the only thing that had been on her mind was showing Senel that she could swim now, so she hadn't really thought of it as a date. What if he did, though? He hadn't seemed to mind that she'd asked him to come to the beach. In fact, he'd seemed happy about it, since he'd been smiling the whole time she'd been talking to him. With a deep sigh, Chloe stepped back into the surf as the small waves rolled in. Might as well get used to the water's temperature while she was waiting. Senel wasn't late yet; it was currently 10:30 in the morning and there was still time. Hopefully he hadn't slept in, though, because Chloe really wanted him to come soon even though it was early. She was starting to get anxious even though she was only up to her calves in the water. The knight studied the water carefully, trying to see if there were any eddies or strong currents, but couldn't make any out. Senel was better at that sort of thing than she was. It was better to wait to go deeper. As long as the sky remained clear and the wind low, it was probably fine to go in some more before he got here, maybe even try to swim a little in a depth where the water came up to her waist. Chloe looked at the water, which was now up to her knees, and allowed herself a smile.

A year ago, if someone had told Chloe that she would become an almost-proficient swimmer, she would have thought they were crazy.

But, here she was, going into the ocean of her own will. Chloe checked the water again and narrowed her eyes, looking to see if there were any aquatic monsters swimming around, but aside from the small shoal of miniscule fish brushing against her legs every now and then there seemed to be nothing. The bigger monsters liked to swim farther out, and unless they were startled or especially aggressive, Polwigles weren't any problem. Chloe had seen a few of those hopping around on the shore and some swimming calmly in the water and could tell that they wouldn't bother her. They got a creepy look in their eyes when they were about to attack; normally their expression was usually kind of glazed. It took a while to figure that out, since their eyes always looked a little creepy. But sometimes, on very rare occasions, Polwigles were fun to play with. On one of the group's Lumen Spring outings Chloe had seen Norma using a Polwigle as part of a game of volleyball; she, Moses and Harriet had played eagerly for almost an hour. The Polwigle must have been pretty laid-back, since any other Polwigle wouldn't have let itself be tossed around like that.

Chloe waded in deeper and wondered what time it was. She was just turning to look at the beach when she noticed that Senel was standing there. They stared at each other for a moment or two; then Chloe flushed red.

"How long have you been there?" She stammered nervously.

"I just got here," Senel answered. "I didn't mean to startle you. Sorry." He approached the surf and smiled.

"It's alright," Chloe murmured, turning halfway, trying to stop blushing. She heard Senel chuckle.

"So, this is what you wanted to show me?" He asked, causing Chloe to turn and nod once.

"Yeah..." She admitted, laughing nervously. "I wanted to try and swim before you got here, but I started thinking about things." Senel glanced up at the sky, then back down at Chloe.

"Do you want to swim?"

"Yeah...I want to show you, but I wanted to try and swim before you got here." She shivered and began to move out of the water. "Now I'm kind of nervous." Senel gave her an encouraging look.

"Have you been trying to learn how to swim?" Chloe nodded again, looking sheepish. Was she that easy to figure out? "I thought so."

"You thought so?" The knight repeated in a startled voice. "How?"

"I guessed yesterday," Senel confessed, rubbing the back of his head when he saw that maybe admitting it hadn't been the best idea. "There aren't many things at the beach you're interested in." He shrugged. "So because of the way you were acting so nervous, I guessed it had to do with swimming." Senel pulled off his shoes and tucked his socks inside of them. Chloe flushed again as the male Eren pulled off his shirt, and she turned sharply towards the surf. She had turned, somewhat because of embarrassment, but mostly because of the scar she knew would be there. "You should try whenever you're ready," Chloe heard Senel tell her.

"A-alright..." Chloe stammered, turning slightly. "Thanks." She wandered into the water again and walked more confidently; she was used to the temperature because she'd stepped into the foamy surf earlier, but could also walk more quickly into the waves because Senel was there. Chloe kept walking and pushing her body against the oncoming small waves and stopped when she was up to her waist. Turning, she let out a little gasp; Senel was so far away even though she wasn't even up to her neck in water. Lumen Spring was deep all the way around even close to the shore. She should have taken the differences into account but she didn't want to stop now. Chloe had studied a little on swimming and now knew a couple different ways to swim. The one that she felt was the most comfortable to do was the forward stroke. So she floated onto her stomach and began alternately moving her arms in a circle while she kicked her legs. The timing of the swimming technique had been hard to get down. At the beginning, when Chloe had tried the forward stroke, she had always felt awkward, never able to swim in a straight line.

But for the most part she'd mastered that stroke in the weeks that she'd been practicing at Lumen Spring. After getting into Lumen Spring for the first time and seeing that it was so deep, she'd searched for other springs around the place, and had found and used a hot spring for this purpose. People often swam in it, so Chloe only used it when there was no one there. It was nice swimming in the pleasantly hot water, too, so that took her worries away—for the most part. Once Chloe had learned how to tread water for a long time, she'd gone onto the forward stroke, and then had moved onto Lumen Spring, despite disliking the deep, dark water. A week later she'd gotten the idea to find water that she could actually see, and a place where she could swim without being interrupted—at least for the most part—so she had chosen the beach and gotten a rush of memories once she'd arrived there for the first time. It was where Senel had first come to the Legacy with Shirley. Will had told her about the day he'd found Senel and Shirley. It was bad that they'd had to encounter Vaclav, but if they'd never been trying to escape him, then Chloe would never have met either of them. She never would have met Senel. Thinking of how far they'd all come together made Chloe feel a little glow of happiness. With all the people in the world, with all the things that could have happened to make Senel wind up somewhere else, he'd come to the Legacy. Chloe would always be grateful to...to whoever determined those things. Maybe fate, or just coincidence. Or maybe it had simply been inevitable that Senel and Shirley would arrive at the Legacy. Chloe decided to stop thinking about it for now, though. It was making her head hurt.

"Chloe!" Senel called from the beach, and the knight stopped swimming and paddled to turn herself towards the beach. "You have been practicing!" He shouted, and even though he was far, Chloe could make out a grin on his face. She began treading water and lifted her arms, waving at him, but lowered them just as quickly because she had started to sink a little after taking her focus away from staying afloat.

"Really?" Chloe called hopefully, face going red, wondering if Senel was just being nice. But he seemed genuine and was still smiling at her, as far as she could tell. The female knight was about to turn and start swimming again, this time enjoying it a little, but Senel yelled her name and he sounded a little urgent. She turned towards him and heard him yell again almost immediately.

"You're too far out! There's a wave!" The Iron Eren shouted loudly, gesturing for her to return to the beach. Chloe half-turned and saw the wave bearing down on her; she began swimming quickly, one arm after the other while she paddled her feet as strongly as she could. But the wave was too fast and she felt it slam into her head a couple seconds after she started swimming for the shore. She was forced under the water and opened her eyes despite the salt that stung them. Her eyes could faintly make out shapes underwater and she kicked up for the surface instinctively, not pausing to think about drowning. If she had, she likely would have panicked too much to even let her survival instincts take over. As Chloe's head crashed through the surface of the waves, water sprayed into the air around her and she just got a glimpse of another wave bearing down on her before it forced her under the ocean again. She also got a short look of something coming closer to her, and hoped it was Senel. Chloe managed to take a breath right before she went under again. She paddled to the surface quickly but realized she was getting a little tired. Now a spike of panic arose in her chest and she began swimming frantically towards what she hoped was the shore; she couldn't see well, since saltwater had splashed in her eyes, making her squint against the stinging. Chloe was wondering if she'd be able to make it back when she felt a strong grip grab her and pull her up above the waves. Blinking hard she managed to see what had gotten a hold of her.

"Senel," she coughed, wanting to put her arms around him, but stopped herself from doing so just in time when she remembered that grabbing onto him would make it harder for him to swim. So she tried to help by kicking her feet in the direction she felt Senel was going. A wave, and then another, swept over them and almost swamped them but Senel managed to keep both of their heads above water. Chloe blinked hard a couple times and realized that saltwater had blinded her vision again, or at least, something had. It was something bright, she now realized, and glanced around carefully to see what it was. There were no more big waves coming, since Senel had carried her to the shallows by this time. Chloe felt a couple of firm but light pats on her back and coughed out a little seawater, then brought her hands up to rub her eyes and glance up at him. Senel helped her stand and kept his hands on her shoulders after she wobbled a little. "Are you okay?" He asked her calmly, but his eyes were concerned and when Chloe listened closer she realized that he sounded alarmed. "I'm sorry, Chloe—I didn't notice that the waves were building up. The weather's getting a little worse."

"That's alright," Chloe coughed, spitting out a little more water. "I'm fine now. Thank you." She smiled at him weakly, then felt her legs start to tremble as she thought about how she could have drowned. Senel steadied her and she didn't stop him; leaning slightly against him, she said, "I surprised myself by not panicking. I just swam back up. But the waves kept coming."

"I'll come out with you next time," Senel told her, fists clenching and face shadowed slightly. "I was going to swim with you this time, but I wanted to give you a chance to swim on your own. I should have been helping more, though." He pulled Chloe into a hug without warning and she gasped slightly. "I'm glad you're alright."

"I'm fine, really. Don't worry. I don't want to swim anymore today, but maybe another time...I'll get better and learn to watch for waves myself." Hesitantly Chloe put her arms around Senel and squeezed him back in a hug. After a moment they broke apart and Chloe saw that Senel looked half-embarrassed and guilty. She was about to say something when a blue glint caught her eye. She turned to the ocean and saw that the waters, instead of being their usual deep blue, were a brighter turquoise and almost seemed to be glowing. "Senel..." Chloe murmured, then spoke louder when he didn't respond. Turning sharply the knight grabbed his shoulder. "Hey...look at the water. What's it doing?"

Senel looked up and met Chloe's face. When he caught her bewildered and amazed expression he looked to the sea. His eyes widened and Chloe heard a little gasp escape his halfway open mouth. She glanced at Senel and tugged gently on his arm when he didn't respond, then gazed at the ocean and thought about when it had glowed like this once before. After they had all defeated Nelfes, Senel had fallen off of the tower into the ocean below, and Shirley had jumped after him. Immediately afterward, while Chloe and the group had watched the water fearfully, the ocean had begun shining brightly in the exact same turquoise color it was now. Soon after Shirley and Senel had resurfaced, the group had raced down to the beach to meet them. It had taken a while to navigate down the tower to the beach, but eventually they'd all met up with Senel and Shirley down by the shore and had been overjoyed to discover they were alright.

Moses had been the first to grab Senel and hug him despite warnings not to because the Iron Eren was still injured; those injuries had been the reason he'd passed out and fallen in the first place. After Will, Shirley and Norma had healed Senel and anyone else who'd needed it, Jay had asked in a hushed voice what had made the sea glow, but neither Senel nor Shirley had answered. Norma had tried to press the answer out of them, but hadn't been successful, and Will had convinced everyone to go home and get some rest after the grueling battle. So to this day Chloe and everyone else still didn't know. They had tried to find out of course, especially Jay, but they hadn't been successful. Before they'd been able to go to the Village of the Ferines to ask, the shadows created by Schwartz had appeared, and when they finally did go to the village they'd been preoccupied with other matters so the glowing ocean had been forgotten.

But now all of the questions resurfaced in Chloe's mind and she took her eyes off of the sea—as beautiful as it was—and turned to Senel. Her expression and tone were firm as she spoke to him.

"Why is the sea glowing? You know why, right?" Senel turned slowly to meet her gaze. "Tell me," Chloe said softly, and Senel looked at his feet before staring back into the knight's brown eyes.

"Among the Ferines, there's something called the Rite of the Feriyen." Chloe nodded, listening in interest, and waited for Senel to continue. Something seemed to be making him anxious, or upset, she wasn't sure. The Eren almost glanced away as if awkward but managed to hold Chloe's gaze. "It's a courtship ritual. When two people want to get..." he trailed off only slightly here, "...married...one of the couple will jump into the ocean and the other person will try and catch them. If they succeed, then the sea will glow, signifying that the couple has its blessing to be married. That's why it glows," he concluded, and it didn't take long for Chloe to understand. She looked at the sea and then back at Senel.

"So...because you came and got me...the sea saw that as us doing the...Rite?" Senel nodded once and gave Chloe a half smile.

"But..." Chloe stammered, "you just wanted to save me, right? You didn't want to perform the Rite, necessarily?" Senel sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well...I didn't think about the Rite when I came to help you...I was thinking about helping you." Chloe felt a quick burst of disappointment but didn't say anything. She gazed back at the still-shining ocean and let out a tiny sigh.

"So you did just want to save me."

"Just?" Senel shook his head. "There was no 'just' about it. I'd never leave you in a situation like that." Before he could stop himself, he added quietly, "Also...I never said that I didn't want to perform the..." Chloe looked at Senel sharply and felt herself holding her breath. Senel shrugged awkwardly once as he looked at Chloe.

"Senel...when the water lit up for you and Shirley, it was giving you its blessing. That's what it mean, right?" Senel nodded.

"Right," he answered, then quickly added, "but Shirley and I talked about it and decided that the sea must give different kinds of blessings. That one...might not have meant that we wanted to get married."

"What?" Chloe whispered.

"Umm..." Senel muttered, wondering if he'd said something wrong. He had a tendency to do that whether he meant it or not, and he hoped Chloe wasn't about to yell at him and storm away. "We're siblings. It doesn't matter if we're not related by blood."

"Was the..." Chloe asked quietly, "was the sea giving a blessing showing that it accepted your familial relationship...despite being a Ferines and Orerines, maybe?"

"That's what we think," Senel agreed, then crossed his arms in thought. "We've always been family, anyway."

"You sound like Moses," Chloe found herself saying, and laughed a bit. A faint smile appeared on Senel's face, but it faltered as Chloe suddenly glared at him, upset.

"Chloe?" He asked bracingly. "What's wrong?"

"What was this blessing for?" The knight interrupted sharply. "Do you want to get married?" Senel was quiet; he didn't know how to respond, even though if he could have gotten up enough nerve that the answer would have been short and simple, just one little word that was somehow the hardest to say. "Well? Is that what you were thinking about? But you weren't thinking about that when you jumped in to save me, were you?"

"It doesn't matter," Senel told her uncomfortably. "The Ferines say that the sea can read the hearts of the people who perform the Rite. No matter what they're thinking, if their feelings are clear, then it gives a blessing, and Shirley and I figured this out firsthand—the sea let us know what the blessing was for. It was to tell us that it accepted that we were family, even though I was Orerines." He glanced at the ocean and smiled faintly, his eyes slightly pained. "That's why it must have lit up for us. It accepted that...and I guess I wouldn't...say no to..." Chloe watched Senel closely and finally noticed a red tinge coloring his face.

"To...?" Chloe prompted when Senel trailed off. "Getting...married?"

"Um..." There was definitely a red tinge to his face, Chloe thought as she watched Senel, and it just got more obvious when she spoke. Then again, it felt like her face was reddening too but she tried not to react to it. Chloe stared awkwardly at her feet.

"The sea even gives Orerines blessings," she murmured, heart twisting. "I didn't think it would."

"Neither did I," Senel told her. Chloe looked up at him and took a step closer, then turned abruptly and began picking up her things. She shook the sand briskly from her jacket and put it on, then buckled her sword back around her waist. "Chloe?" Senel asked carefully, watching her, and he felt a little sense of dismay when she turned and met his eyes. She was upset; it was all too clear in her eyes.

"Thank you for coming today." Senel inwardly cringed but kept his face steady; she was speaking to him formally, as formally as the day they'd met! She might as well start calling him Coolidge again. "And thank you for saving me, Coolidge."

Senel felt like someone had punched him right in the stomach. "Chloe, hang on..." Senel moved after Chloe when she started to leave without a backward glance. He grabbed her right hand and held it loosely, not wanting to force her to stay, but hoping she would listen and stop walking. But Chloe shook his grip off and kept going.

"I need to think...please, just let me be alone for a while." Senel stopped and watched Chloe as she slowly left the beach. The Iron Eren stood there for a while, feeling empty and unsure of what to do. He wanted to go after Chloe but she'd told him that she wanted to be alone. What else could he do but listen to her? Senel shook his head and glanced back at the water and saw that the waves were calm, and in the fading light—for the sky had turned gray and seemed to be threatening the Legacy with a storm—he could more clearly see the water glowing a bright turquoise. Turning, he walked quietly back to the beach and sat, gazing at the glowing waves as they swept over his bare feet.

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**I haven't been playing any English Tales of games for a while; I forgot what the monster names were. I had to look up the English name for the Polwigle monster. They're those round blue monsters with the big tail, and they roll around sometimes to attack. They're called Ota-Ota in Japanese. I have a couple Japanese Tales games since they're games that haven't been localized or fan-translated. They're on the DS and PSP, since those aren't region-locked which is really cool.**

**I feel kinda mean for doing this to Chloe. She was starting to get used to the new relationship, but then suddenly she and Senel got the sea's blessing-to get married, basically, and that is what I had it mean-and she wasn't thinking that far ahead. Senel wasn't either but, like he said, he wouldn't say no to the idea of getting married although he's embarrassed too. It's complicated, but relationships usually are. It's funny that I picked now to try my hand at writing about one, but I think it's been good.  
I go back to school next week. Most of my classes are online, so I'll be in a good place to keep writing my stories, but hopefully I don't get too busy.**


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